Dino Saluzzi & Anja Lechner - Ojos Negros (2007) [Hi-Res]

Argentinean bandoneon player Dino Saluzzi and German cellist Anja Lechner don't like to have their work characterized as tango, although it clearly has its roots in the tango tradition. They see their collaborations more as organic, abstract musical expressions, some improvised and some based on preexisting pieces, each performance of which is unique, unencumbered by the necessity to reproduce an earlier musical experience. The fact that they create such deeply felt and mutually attuned performances is a testimony to the years they've committed to listening to and learning from each other. Some of the works have the sound and feel of tangos, but the freedom and inventiveness and expressivity Saluzzi and Lechner bring to the pieces deepens them into something more than dances -- they have the subtlety and sophistication of the best chamber music played with the spontaneity of jazz. The expert engineering by Manfred Eicher emphasizes the intimacy of the collaboration; the tiny sounds of the bandoneon's mechanics are audible, as though the listener were sitting very close, and the bandoneon and the cello are so beautifully blended that sometimes it's not immediately obvious where one instrument begins and the other leaves off. Anyone who loves Piazzolla's music should find much to appreciate in Saluzzi and Lechner's soulful and lyrical playing and in their unique take on that tradition. ~ Stephen Eddins