This post is by Dan
Recorded July 1986
Gary Burton was one of the first jazz artists with whom I could identify. He surged onto the scene in the early 1960s as a teenage white boy from the Midwest just one year older than me. Although I had little musical facility, I always had good ears. I liked the sound of the vibes, and here was a guy who specialized on them. I was always glad to see his new releases come out.
Many years later I decided to be a completist and collect everything he had recorded. In the process, I wrote to Burton to tell him of my quest and ask whether I had missed anything. To my surprise, he expressed appreciation for tracking down his recordings, something which he had not done. For a while he sent me recordings that were not on my radar, and we exchanged a few old-fashioned letters. I've seen him perform live on several occasions dating back to 1968 when he won Downbeat's Jazz Man of the Year award.
One stream of Burton's musical interests is the tango, and in 1986 he teamed up with tango master Astor Piazzolla for a tour that included the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Their performance was recorded and released as The New Tango. In his book, Learning to Listen (Berklee Press, 2013), Burton describes his worries about playing with the acclaimed Piazzolla and a set of musicians working in a different genre. Moreover, Piazzolla had written new compositions for their tour, and learning the music was difficult. But the Montreaux tapes proved to be magnificent. Burton writes:
"I wasn't too anxious to hear them. But when I did make the time to listen, I was thrilled to hear that, in fact, the group sounded terrific. What's more, we really had captured the excitement of that night in Montreaux" (Learning to Listen, p. 321).
The New Tango works on a couple of levels. Piazzolla's compositions create a unique drama of their own, particularly the opening "Milonga Is Coming." I would credit much of the success of the album to the tunes. Burton admits to making few modifications to the writing for his vibes. Then there is the exotic sound of the augmented band. Since vibes don't traditionally belong in tango music, it's remarkable to hear how well they mesh with the bandoneon, guitar, piano, bass and violin.
To some, Gary Burton bears the dubious legacy as the originator of jazz-rock in the 1960s. Fusion across traditional styles is creative, yet often prone to criticism. The bossa nova music of the early 1960s is an instance of successful fusion, and that is what inspired Burton to pursue his tango projects. As for jazz-rock, I don't hear many critics decrying it anymore. Jazz has always progressed by exploring its boundaries. Albums like The New Tango are living evidence of the rewards of such experimentation.
Two more tango albums followed:
Astor Piazzolla Reunion - A Tango Excursion (Concord, 1998). Piazzolla plays on one track.
Libertango (Concord, 2000)
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