Devilish Tribute to Piazzolla

German tango nuevo (new tango) quartet Mi Loco Tango has released a tribute to Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla titled Del Diablo y del Angel (“About the Devil and the Angel). Piazzolla dedicated an entire series of original compositions to the devil and the angels and scattered them in many of his publications and compositions. Mi Loco Tango has compiled these little stories, including the rarely played cycles “Del Diablo” and “Del Angel.”

Frankfurt-based Mi Loco Tango’s line-up includes four musicians, consisting of a bayonist (chromatic button accordion player) from Russia, a violinist and a pianist from Germany and a German-French double-bass player. They have already proven their virtuosity with Piazzolla’s works, for which they were awarded the World Music Prize Creole 2007 & Laureate 2 at the Astor Piazzolla Festival.

Mi Loco Tango have made some daring changes to some of the original pieces. For the melodramatic “El Tango,” the quartet had the lyrics translated from the original Spanish (by the great Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges) and invited the performer and director Willy Praml (he is the father of the double-bass player Gregor Praml) to their studio-sessions to work with him to achieve an absolutely new interpretation. Alberto Mompellio is responsible for refining the arrangements to “Adios Nonino” and “Mumuki.”

Buy the album:

• In North America: Del Diablo y del Angel. Other recordings available: Il Cinema: Il Paradiso!
• In Europe: Del Diaboo y del Angel