Ojos Negros - Saluzzi & Lechner (jazz, cds, album, title)

TheBig3 · 06-18-2007, 09:44 AM

Hunting this down after I heard it on NPR was hell. Ultimatly I think it was worth it and I'm going to put it to the forums because I think its something we can all enjoy. Its Tango, which is one of the better world musics and under discussed here, and Im no better than anyone else when it comes to that. But lets make up for some lost time here.

I know you guys want uploads but since I don't use illegal downloading services (i'd like to by the way, PM with suggestions please?) I don't think that I can. Still I found a video that might suffice here on amazon. Hopefully this is good enough. Also I found a quote on there (album review) that isn't completely appropriate but I think it has a good amount of information. I think I can upload things in a roundabout fashion if I burn them then reinstall

them. If anyone would like this album let me know.

Quote:

The liner notes in the handsome booklet that accompanies Ojos Negros start with a very telling anecdote involving Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, and it is obvious that the author of the notes intended the putative Borges quote to apply to the music of Dino Saluzzi as well. That is, if you don't understand the work, then its not for you.
That has been the problem for me since I was introduced to the music of Saluzzi through his work with Al DiMeola's world music project. He was so good there, I sought out his own projects. But as hard as I tried, I just didn't connect with any of them until now.
If you are looking for the music of Dino Saluzzi, then its likely that you already know what the bandoneon is all about. There surely is not another instrument with the power to express melancholy, longing and angst as the bandoneon and that is what makes perfect for tango. But in the last half-century, adventurous musicians, Saluzzi among them, have explored the possibilities of the bandoneon beyond the world of tango.
The foundation of Ojos Negros lies in tango. The title of the CD itself is also the name of a tango dating from the time of the Guardia Vieja of the early 20th century, and it is indeed the only composition covered here that is not Saluzzi's. If you know the piece, you will surely recognize it. But while Saluzzi's music is anchored in tango, his collaboration here with German cellist Anja Lechner extends his musical reach deep into the worlds of chamber music and avant-garde jazz and the result is often spellbinding.
I have listened to Ojos Negros at least a dozen times since I bought it. And though I did not like it instantly, its musical secrets gradually revealed themselves to me after repeated listens. This is a work that surely demands that you be all ears lest the key to its mysteries escape you. It is somber, it is stately, and it is often soporific, yet it is ultimately satisfying.
A couple of other Saluzzi CDs I own haven't really "worked" for me. Ojos Negros does. If you have the patience and the time to listen without distractions, you may find that it works for you as well.