If it weren’t for the fact that the same grandson of Astor Piazzolla It was he who suggested to Nico Sorin that he revive his grandfather’s musical pieces. This Argentine musician and producer would surely never have taken on the challenge of bringing the father of modern tango to contemporary sounds.
According to the criteria of
More inclined to the world of rock and with an artistic career that includes having worked with artists such as Shakira, Alejandro Sanz, Juanes, Jovanotti and Miguel Bosé – for whom he directed MTV Unplugged in 2016 – Sorin was not convinced that he was on the right path to interpret Piazzolla until he heard the first chords of the octet he assembled to do so.
Nominated four times as a producer at the Latin Grammy Awards, Nico Sorin talks about his experience playing Piazzolla and the concert he will give on Saturday, September 14, at the Idas y Vueltas Strip of the Delia Zapata Olivella National Arts Center in Bogotá.
How did the Piazzolla Electronic Octet come about?
It came about through a request from a colleague and musician friend with whom I have shared music for many years, Daniel ‘Pipi’ Piazzolla, who is actually Astor’s grandson and invited me to pay tribute at the CSK, in the National Auditorium in Buenos Aires, for the hundredth anniversary of his birth (2021) and gave me the Octeto Electrónico, which is precisely the most eclectic project and most closely linked to rock, so I immediately said yes.
What was the biggest personal challenge you faced in undertaking this project of reinterpreting Piazzolla and how did you overcome it?
I was really nervous about the project because I was embarrassed to get involved. I don’t come from tango, although I really admire Piazzolla’s music. The moment I picked up Libertango, which started with a crescendo, a distorted electric guitar, like Pantera, I said to myself, let’s kick the table! I think that if I gave myself the artistic freedom to take it in that direction, the rest of the music would open up for me. So I went in that direction and I think it worked very well. It also happens that Piazzolla’s music is so solid, so well written, that it lends itself very well to reinterpretation.
Nico Sorín, Argentine producer and musician, founder of the Octeto Piazzolla.
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What criteria did you use to select the musicians for the project? What is the line-up that is coming to Colombia?
The choice of musicians was 50 percent of the battle. My idea was to bring together some who did not come from tango, but from jazz, from electronic music, and it really is a selection of very varied musicians. I think that in some way Astor was also looking for that. He had musicians who came from rock and jazz, so the premise was not to come from tango. I remember that I took Pipi (Piazzolla) to the first rehearsal so that he would give me the go-ahead, and when I heard those first four seconds, what happened in those four bars, I said yes, this is working.
How did you select the pieces by Piazzolla for this octet? What criteria did you follow to maintain the essence of his music while giving it a contemporary touch?
The pieces have been selected based on the concert that Astor gave in 1977 at the Olympia in Paris. It is a legendary show by the Octeto Electrónico, with all his great works, from Libertango, Meditango, Zita, Violentango, Adiós Nonino, and we have incorporated some more. I think that maintaining the essence, maintaining the spirit of Astor, can only be done in one way, which is playing it with the heart, playing with fire and with vigor. His music does not allow it to be performed in a lukewarm way, right? Astor’s music is fire.
In this globalized world, what is the role of traditional music in the face of innovation?
I think that Astor’s music is more than traditional music, it is very personal music. I think it is very important to preserve tradition, but also to preserve those voices that have said something important at some point in history. Astor’s music combines a very geographical issue in the sense that it is music from Buenos Aires. You close your eyes and you can see the buildings and the cars and the buses going around Buenos Aires, but we have also gone to a town in Brazil where people did not know Piazzolla and you see how their eyes fill with tears when they hear Adiós Nonino. What I am getting at is that it is a tremendously universal music, which you can play anywhere and it is like a kind of world anthem. It is very closely linked to Buenos Aires, but it also touches that universal and human fiber.
How do you think Piazzolla’s music has influenced your own development as a musician and composer? Is there any work of his that feels particularly close to you?
Well, I’ve been listening to Piazzola for a long time. I think the first time I heard him was when I was 12 or 13, if I remember correctly, and I saw him on television, at a show in Italy, I think, where he started exactly like we started the show. Gubitsch started with a guitar, with a moustache, flowery shirts and a whole pastel-coloured stage set, very 70s, very progressive rock. I said: this is like Deep Purple, it looks like Black Sabbath, and I remember the musicians coming in and marching until Astor came in with his bandoneon and I was really amazed. The truth is that having studied his scores to be able to adapt them and see his handwriting, his crossed out words and that was like going back to school again.
In Colombia there is a tradition of tango in some places. What differences or similarities do you see in the way Piazzolla’s music is received in different Latin American countries?
I remember having been to Colombia several times and I remember the affinity there is with tango. We haven’t played there yet, so I don’t know how Piazzolla’s music will be received, but we have been to Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, and there is a kind of artistic brotherhood in these Latin American countries, whether it be with Piazzolla, with Hermeto Pascoal or with Violeta Parra. What I’m getting at is that there is an artistic brotherhood that is there in some way. We have had very nice experiences playing in these places for people who didn’t know Piazzolla at all or didn’t know him directly.
What reflection has this Octet left you with?
I can tell you what I’ve seen. We’ve been playing this show for two years at Niceto, which is a very emblematic concert hall in Buenos Aires, and it’s very interesting to see, all of a sudden, that you can find people from three generations in the audience. The grandfather with the father and with the son because, well, it has that more rock aspect that grabs the young people, but it also has that reminiscence and preserves, for me, the spirit of Astor. So it’s really nice to see such a wide age diversity.
Do you see parallels between the tango renewal movements and the evolution processes in other musical genres in the region?
Yes, as in every musical genre, there are always these Piazzollas who shake things up. Sometimes they are unfairly criticised, as was the case with Astor, but I think that this has happened in all musical genres, from jazz to rock, and I think that what they do is refresh the scene. The mainstream works in a different way, where one finds a formula and repeats it to the point of nausea, so I think that these people are necessary to open up and also to give a direction to music and art.
What will we see in the show?
Well, it’s all about the music. It’s a show that we’ve been playing for two and a half years, we’ve already got it down pat. It’s very plastic, very elastic, very playful and we have a great time. I’m going with the original line-up and the repertoire is part of the show that he did at the Olympia in Paris in 1977, they’re all hits. We’ve also added some gems, so basically all of Piazzolla’s hits are there.
What message would you like to convey to the Colombian public about your project and the importance of preserving and renewing the musical traditions of Latin America?
My mother is Colombian, my grandparents, my uncles. It is a pleasure to go. It is a country that I love. Its cuisine… I remember eating those wafers with arequipe, the tamales, in short, bandejita paisa, everything. So gastronomically I am very happy to be able to return and that happiness will surely be reciprocated in music. We are very happy with this project, I know the affinity there is with tango, I know that Colombia has a rainbow of musicians, artists, culture and rhythms, above all. So I am very happy to be able to go there to do this show and, who knows, to be able to return and do something with Colombian artists as well.
I think I went every year to spend New Year’s Eve until I was 16, so I’m very happy to be able to return, but this time to present this project and enjoy some music. See you there on September 14th.
Details of the concert in Bogotá
The Octeto Piazzolla Electrónico (Argentina) will perform in Bogotá on Saturday, September 14, at 7:30 pm, in the Delia Zapata Room of the National Center for the Arts (Calle 11 no. 5 – 60).
Tickets $60,000 at Tuboleta. 20% discount on pre-sale
