SLAMCD 509
"PENAS ARGENTINAS"
By Jorge Daniel Szajko and Orquesta Salvaje
Tracks:
1 No es la misma mlionga 8. 26
2 Chacarita 4. 44
3 El cuchillo 9. 18
4 60 anos 3. 02
5 Canoas 3. 50
6 Zamba de Borges 5. 37
7 Penas Argentinas 11. 27
8 La Canada 4.50
9 El pianazo 1.31
All compositions by J. D. Szajko
Musicians:
Jorge Daniel Szajko: Strings Orchestra, Piano, Spanish Guitar, Tenor &
Soprano Saxes, Oboe, Moxeño
Bernardo Baraj: Tenor & Soprano Saxes, flute
Ariel Passadore: Bass
Patricio Cavanagh: Drums
Pablo Rodriguez: Percussion
Laura Loiacono: Alto & Soprano Saxes
Enrique Bonetto: Baritone Sax
George Haslam: Baritone Sax
Daniel Harari: Tenor Sax
Recorded June 2003, Solar Estudio, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Penas Argentinas SLAM CD 509
Jorge Daniel Szaiko & Orquesta Salvaje
Jazz Review March 2005
Just another 21st century tango album? Well, Jorge D Szaiko sounds like an all-round master-musician (he plays most of the string, wind and keyboard instruments credited on this album), and is no mean composer and arranger to boot. So, far from the Piazzola resuscitation you might have been dreading, this album celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Buenos Aires equivalent of the Hampstead Garden Suburb, Lomas del Palomar (the district where, we’re told, this album was ‘conceived’) in unique style. I’m glad to say that there’s not one traditional tango-player’s bandoneon in earshot and, even better, Szajko explores a variety of those wonderfully intricate native Argentine rhythms like the chacarera, milonga and zamba in a cosmopolitan jazz context.
The best track for me is the joyous "La Caçada", which explores a neighbouring Brazilian carnival rhythm with great drums and percussion to the fore in a refreshing mini-big-band ensemble of predominantly alto, tenor and baritone sax, with Szaiko’s own piano holding it all together in a secondary role. "Chacarita" is a favourite, too, because the ubiquitous Szajko (perhaps not the greatest exponent of it, but this time on Spanish guitar) honours one of the richest Argentine guitar rhythms, the chacarera, in a modern evocation which still allows you to imagine gauchos cantering across the Pampas on horseback while defying your anticipation of more traditional chord progressions.
Most impressive is when Szajko becomes an entire string orchestra all on his own in "No Es La Misma Milonga", "Canoas", the title-piece, "Penas Argentinas" and the jazz-soul little jewel, "El Cuchillo", which, again, transports the traditional gaucho’s weapon (the knife) through time to an electric band context with the sax trio (particularly Bonetto’s wonderfully jazzy baritone sax) to the fore. Again, the base rhythm has you cantering across the Pampas until it fragments on Szaijko’s electric piano.
The title-track "Penas Argentinas" worried me because nobody laments like the Argentinians and don’t they have reason (recent history including military dictatorship, genocide and economic ruin), but this is a gutsy little sax-led blues piece ending on a note of hope. Not precious at all and one of the best tracts. The piano solos, "60 Aços" and "El Pianazo" (literally, ‘piano attack’) seem to betray Szaijko’s piano training in the modernist tradition, perhaps portraying the violence of Argentina’s social history and mechanical rush of its industrial heyday, about 60 years ago in the 1940s.
After a few listenings I was convinced that this is a must-buy for those who love the variety of traditional Argentine music in a modern jazz-fusion context. And the multi-talented Jorge Szajko, who seems to be a virtuoso pianist, is a bright new name to watch.
Jennifer Laurie
1. Penas Argentinas by Jorge Szajko &Orquesta Salvaje
Jorge Daniel Szajko just might be the greatest multi-instrumentalist in the world: who else plays melodica, violin, piano, Spanish gutiar, oboe, moxeno, tenor sax, soprano sax, cello AND bass? He even plays all the instruments in the string section of Orquestra Savaje (overdubbed of course) on the tunes which feature a string section.
PENAS ARGENTINAS itself sides toward the post-1960 avant guard style, though not as "outside" as some jazz musicians have chosen. Surprisingly, two of nine compositions are solo piano pieces. All the tunes were composed by Szajko: all are instrumentals, and powerful jazz/folk arrangements.
http://www.worlddiscoveries.net/ October 2005
