Here Comes Big Band Tango

Puertos, the latest tango-jazz album by pianist and composer Emilio Solla

Emilio Solla is a very busy man; trying to schedule an interview with him feels like chasing after a hurricane. One day he’s performing on the West Coast, the next time in a tiny town in upstate New York, then he’s recording a new album, performing with his own group – the Trio Solla-Cheek-Labro – or he’s working on a video as part of a fundraising campaign for his next project. And then there’s so much more: teaching, composing a musical, promoting, and creating new possibilities; this Argentine-born pianist and composer seems like a creative volcano.

Tango wins a Grammy!

 

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Grammy winners Héctor Del Curto, Pablo Ziegler and Claudio Ragazzi
(Photo: STOWE TANGO MUSIC FESTIVAL)

On January 28 the tango world was rocked by a major event: the Pablo Ziegler Trio’s album, Jazz Tango, won the 2018 Grammy Award as best Latin Jazz Album. It was the first time that tango was awarded a prize by the Recording Academy — and the first time the larger music world became aware of the importance of a genre it had previously regarded as marginal. I spoke with bandoneonist Héctor Del Curto — who, together with pianist Claudio Ragazzi and founder Pablo Ziegler, completes the Pablo Ziegler Trio — about winning the Grammy Award. Héctor is one of the most sought-after bandoneonists, having played with Osvaldo Pugliese and Astor Piazzolla among others. Héctor and his wife Jisoo Ok are also the founders of the Stowe Tango Music Festival.