“I vividly remember,” said David Juritz, founder member of the London Tango Quintet, “a new girlfriend putting on the first track of Astor Piazzolla’s ‘Zero Hour’. That was the moment tango became an obsession for me. Thirty years on and I’ve brought together my own band and that girlfriend is now my wife. Tango doesn’t always have a sad ending!”
That passion for this music, with its “kaleidoscope of conflicting emotions” was clear for all to see at Prestfelde’s Blackburn theatre on Friday 24th May. Violinist David Juritz has indeed brought together a group of extraordinary musicians: accordionist Milos Milivojević, Craig Ogden on acoustic guitar, double bassist Richard Pryce and David Gordon on piano. To the delight of the audience, each had a chance to display their virtuosity in solo performances during the two sets. Craig astonished us with fiendishly intricate arpeggios, blues-style bends and flamenco flourishes in his rendition of Django Reinhardt’s ‘Nuages’. David Gordon recreated the ambience of a Harlem jazz dive for his own composition ‘Bebop Tango’, before taking us to a louche Buenos Aires nightspot and then, somehow, returning to the jazz vibe, while the rest of the group took up a marching tango beat in a fascinating ‘mash-up’ of musical styles.
Milos’s solo spot, ‘Asturias’ featured a masterclass on the classical accordion. It began with a theme reminiscent of Bach’s ‘Toccata’, almost slowed to a halt, then took up the original theme and concluded with a funereal-style fugue. Milos’s instrument, with its battalions of buttons, especially the tiny ones on his right, looked impossible to play, but Milos’s fingers leapt almost effortlessly around them.
For ‘Contrabajissimo’, we were told that “Richard is going to do a bit of work now.” After an unaccompanied introductory solo, he laid down a sliding bass figure whereupon all the other instruments joined in, pizzicato style. A sweet interlude from guitar and accordion appeared out of nowhere, followed by a haunting melody from the violin, before the sliding bass returned, with percussive stabs from the others, ending with an extended slide down the neck from Richard.
David Juritz began the first set with a yearning, melancholy line in Astor Piazzolla’s ‘Milonga del Angel’, enchanted us with his solo at the beginning of Anselmo Aieta’s ‘Palomita Blanca’ and led the quintet with an elegiac theme in the final number by Piazzolla: 'Adios Nonino', a paean to the composer’s father upon his death.
There were so many other highlights in this evening of breathtaking musicianship: the soulful, melancholy strains of Piazzolla’s ‘Soledad’; Salgán’s mischievous ‘El bosque mágico’, introduced as “very strange”; David Gordon’s own ‘Milonga de mis amigos virtuales' (written during Lockdown, imagining the group were playing together over Zoom, then realising there would be a time lag and incorporating this into the composition) and the appearance of two couples on stage, caught up in the infectious rhythm of the tango, especially Brunelli’s ‘Illusión’, the quintet’s first tango waltz.
After ‘Adios Nonino’, the London Tango Quintet were called back for two richly-deserved encores and treated us to Piazzolla’a legendary ‘Libertango’. It was an evening of unexpected wonders: sometimes joyful, sometimes challenging, always fascinating. It has been another triumph for the Shropshire Music Trust and a brilliant find from artistic director John Moore. Once again, tango hasn’t had a sad ending!
Simon Cousins