The cover art alone is enough to inspire passion: a woman leans acrobatically backward, head thrown back, body supported by an amorous-looking man with closed eyes and pursed lips. You can almost hear the intoxicating strains of the world’s most passionate dance already.
Seriously, just try listening to Putumayo’s tango sampler, Tango Around the World, without spinning magnificent tales in your head of tragic, romantic fervor and deep, meaningful stares. Try fighting the urge to stalk passionately across the floor, bright red rose in your clenched teeth, ready to sweep the nearest unsuspecting soul off his or her feet in a fiery display of phenomenal dance skills.
As a dance, tango is ideal for otherwise-reserved people who long for a bit of over-the-top drama but don’t quite fancy themselves in a chorus line. As the introduction to Tango Around the World notes, tango “manages to straddle the divide between kitsch and chic.” Taught in ballroom classes all over the world, it’s great for indulging your passionate side in a perfectly respectable atmosphere.
As a musical genre, tango is zesty, rich and provocative, with intense rhythms and passionate vocals.
Tango Around the World spotlights traditional Argentinean tango fused with other world music styles. The collection is extremely user friendly. It’s clear the folks at Putumayo want listeners to really appreciate the music and its cultural history.
There’s a brief introduction that provides basic highlights in tango’s evolution over the past hundred years. For each song on the collection, a picture and biography of the artist is given, along with information on the cultivation of tango in each artist’s home country.
All of this is printed in English, Spanish and French, with a phonetic pronunciation guide for artist names and song titles. The guide is extremely helpful, giving you the freedom to go out and discuss the music without that nagging feeling that you look like an uncultured slob who can’t even pronounce the names of the songs he or she is raving about. How cool will you feel when you can drop the name “Sanna Pietiäinen” into casual conversation with complete confidence?
Together with M.A. Numminen and the Neo Rustic Tango Orchestra, Pietiäinen performs one of the collection’s most striking dances, “Kangastus.” Backed by the requisite steady rhythm section, mournful violin, stoic piano and whizzing accordion toss the melody back and forth like dancers trading the lead.
One of the most interesting amalgamations involves klezmer music. “Tango Idishe,” performed by Brazilian singer Fortuna, marries the traditional Jewish style with the tango traditions of South America.
Other songs feature artists from such diverse locations as Norway, Senegal, Serbia and Greece. It is interesting to see how each musician’s musical roots affect his or her interpretation of tango.
Putumayo's tagline for its numerous world music samplers is “Guaranteed to make you feel good!” Tango Around the World takes that lofty claim quite seriously, with a sundry collection of songs that makes it very hard not to jump up and shake it.
Article comments
1 - misscrissa
I have this album and have to completely agree with Amanda. This is a sultry, invigorating album and a must have for anyones music collection.