The American Clavé Recordings - 2022 European Nonesuch Records 28-track 3LP Set

Nonesuch Records releases a three-LP box set of albums from the great Argentine composer, bandleader and bandoneón player Astor Piazzolla - originally released by American Clavé Records in the 1980s and reissued by Nonesuch more than two decades ago. Astor Piazzolla: The American Clavé Recordings marks the first time this landmark trio of albums - Tango: Zero Hour, La Camorra: The Solitude Of Passionate Provocation, and The Rough Dancer And The Cyclical Night (Tango Apasionado) - is being issued as a set, now remastered, and is the first time the albums have been available on vinyl since their initial release on American Clavé. The set's liner notes include original and new notes by the albums' producer and American Clavé founder Kip Hanrahan as well as an in-depth essay from journalist Fernando González, who translated and annotated Piazzolla's memoirs and wrote liner notes for four of his albums. Originally scheduled for release in Piazzolla's centenary year 2021, the 2022 set now inaugurates the beginning of the second century of Piazzolla's lasting influence.

Tango: Zero Hour was recorded in New York with Piazzolla and his classic New Tango Quintet, which worked with Piazzolla from 1978 to 1988 and included Fernando Suárez Paz (violin), Pablo Ziegler (piano), Horacio Malvicino, Sr. (guitar), and Héctor Console (bass). González says of Tango: Zero Hour: "These are demanding pieces, yet the individual playing remains consistently precise and intense throughout. As an ensemble, Piazzolla and his New Tango Quintet sound focused, loose and forceful. They are in total control of the music and prove it by casually changing direction, moods, and dynamics on a dime. Piazzolla immediately recognized that the quintet had accomplished something special, believing it to be 'the greatest record I've made in my entire life. We gave our souls to [it].'" Tango Zero Hour was originally released by American Clavé in 1986.

First released in 1989, La Camorra was recorded in New York in May 1988, also with the New Tango Quintet. González writes: "La Camorra not only delivers a late masterpiece, the three-part title piece, but it also serves as a marker completing two significant chapters in Piazzolla's life and musical career. Set up as three separate but related pieces, La Camorra is more than a summation. It suggests Piazzolla reflecting on tango, now lovingly, conjuring old players and styles, now angrily fighting with tango history, demanding his place in it.

"In Zero Hour style, Piazzolla completes the program with versions of pieces he had already recorded, polished to a gleam. The Quintet is again in excellent form. Featuring a substantial new work and impeccable performances of four repertoire pieces, La Camorra is a high water mark in Piazzolla's discography. It was also Piazzolla's last recording with the New Tango Quintet."

The Rough Dancer And The Cyclical Night, also originally released in 1989, was recorded in New York in September 1987, with an ensemble that included Fernando Suárez Paz (violin), Pablo Zinger (piano), Paquito D'Rivera (alto sax, clarinet), Andy González (bass), and Rodolfo Alchourrón (electric guitar).

González says, "The Rough Dancer And The Cyclical Night (Tango Apasionado), recorded by Piazzolla without the Quintet, occupies a unique place in his discography. It is based on the music Piazzolla composed for Tango Apasionado, a dance and theater piece created by Graciela Daniele based on stories by Argentine short-story writer, poet, and essayist Jorge Luis Borges. But what truly sets The Rough Dancer apart in Piazzolla's discography is how it was created. Up to this point, the studio for Piazzolla had been, for the most part, a means to document the music he was producing. But [at this point], Piazzolla was intrigued by the idea of using the studio as a creative tool, perhaps even for composing and arranging."

Tracklisting.

LP 1: Tango Zero Hour
1. Tanguedia III
2. Milonga Del Angel
3. Concierto Para Quintero
4. Milonga Loca
5. Michelangelo '70
6. Contrabajísimo
7. Mumuki

LP 2: La Camerra
1. La Camorra I
2. La Camorra II
3. La Camorra III
4. Soledad
5. Fugata
6. Sur: Los Sueños (South: The Dreams)
7. Sur: Regresso Al Amor (South: A Return to Love)

LP 3: The Rough Dancer And The Cyclical Night (Tango Apasionado)
1. Prologue (Tango Apasionado)
2. Milonga for Three
3. Street Tango
4. Milonga Picaresque
5. Knife Fight
6. Leonora's Song
7. Prelude To The Cyclical Night (Part One)
8. Butcher's Death
9. Leijia's Game
10.Milonga for Three (Reprise)
11.Bailongo
12.Leonora's Love Theme
13.Finale (Tango Apasionado)
14.Prelude to the Cyclical Night (Part Two)