A new quintet based in Montreal, made up of young musicians from Argentina as well as from all over Canada, devoted to the rhythms of tango nuevo and especially to the uncontested master of the genre, Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992).
Combining some classic scores of Piazzolla with new arrangements of his works and original compositions, as well as those of other composers such as Rodolfo Mederos and Gustavo Beytelmann, the young musicians who make up the Sweatshop Tango Ensemble give a fresh urban take on this melancholy music. Pulsating rhythms, wistful violin, shimmering accordion lines, dark, expressive piano solos, double-bass and guitar transformed into percussion instruments: ear-cinema, mind-tango.
The name 'Sweatshop Tango Ensemble' refers to the place the band practices, and in fact, where the band first got started: a former Clothing manufacture, or sweatshop, in Montreal's textile district, on St. Laurent boulevard, an area populated by immigrants (predominately Jewish, Italian and Portuguese) since the end of the 19th century. Amy, our pianist, plays on a piano that was hoisted up into the space by hand through an old cargo-elevator shaft, and is placed where huge sewing machines used to sit, the welts they left in the floor still visible. The tango was also born in the immigrant areas of another great city, Buenos Aires, by working-class musicans from among other places Italy, Spain, Germany, Russia and Poland. In our "sweatshop" we pay homage to them.
Out of a converted clothing factory on the Main, Montreal’s textile district and the local equivalent of Buenos Aires’ La Boca neighborhood, the Sweatshop Tango Ensemble is an encounter between musicians from Argentina and Canada, conjuring up the ghosts of all the immigrants who ironed, sewed, folded and packed on the premises.
Jonathan Goldman (accordion)
Chantal Bergeron (violin)
Pablo Bonacina (guitar)
Amy Zanrosso (piano)
Pablo Seib (double-bass)
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 arranged by Jonathan Goldman
Producer: Jason O’Connell
Recording Engineer: Marcela Zorro
Assistant Engineer: Dominique Lejeune
Design/ Photo: Dave Girard
Web: www.lesweatshop.ca
email: info@lesweatshop.ca
Booking: (514) 849-0780
© 2006 LeSweatshop Productions
Recorded at Studio Piccolo (Montréal)
Check out the artist's website:
http://www.lesweatshop.caTrack List:
1. Michelangelo ‘70
2. Due agosto
3. Payadora
4. El Marne
5. Paralalo
6. Otoño porteño
7. Salganeando
8. Danzarin
9. Invierno porteño
10. Ostango
11. Tanguedia
12. A los amigos
13. Concierto para quinteto
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