Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Dino Saluzzi / Anja Lechner / Felix Saluzzi: Navidad de los Andes

Dino Saluzzi / Anja Lechner / Felix Saluzzi: Navidad de los Andes

By John Kelman
October 28, 2011
View read count

Dino Saluzzi / Anja Lechner / Felix Saluzzi: Navidad de los Andes

Most musicians work with a wide range of other collaborators over time, but only a precious few become so empathically close as to engender ongoing relationships. It's no surprise that Argentinean bandoneonist Dino Saluzzi has continued to work with his brother, saxophonist/clarinetist Felix, their genetic bond clearly apparent on Dino Saluzzi Group recordings like Juan Condori (ECM, 2006). The bandoneonist's extra-familial bond with German-born cellist

Anja Lechner

cello

" data-original-title="" title="">Anja Lechner—first, in his collaboration with the Rosamunde Quartette on Kultrum (ECM, 1998), and nearly a decade later on their sublime duo recording, Ojos Negros (ECM, 2007)—is no less profound. Saluzzi's decision to bring all three together for 2010's El Encuentro (ECM)—exploring his ongoing interest in the marriage Argentinean folk tradition with more expansive classical constructs—yielded equally impressive results.

Contrasting El Encuentro's larger sonic palette with The Netherlands' Metropole Orchestra, Navidad de los Andes returns to Ojos Negros' more intimate environs and an equally elemental set of material, almost exclusively composed by Saluzzi. While not suggesting there isn't detailed writing at play, Saluzzi relies more completely on the trio's intrinsic chemistry and shared language, and the glorious combined timbre of this uniquely well-matched set of instruments; the combination of air-driven reeds and bowed strings creating a wondrous single voice, while bandoneon and saxophone conjoin for as seamless a marriage here as Norwegian saxophonist

Trygve Seim

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Trygve Seim did with accordionist

Frode Haltli

accordion

" data-original-title="" title="">Frode Haltli on Yeraz (ECM, 2008).

With Felix loosely representing the folk and jazz traditions and Lechner a more classical frame of reference, bandoneonist Dino has formed a perfect trifecta, pushing and pulling what is, at times, an equilateral triangle, at other times, one far more weighted towards specific concerns—and, at times, within the confines of a single composition. "Gabriel Kondor" begins unequivocally in folklore, with Saluzzi's bandoneon alone evoking its cinematic imagery of a small town at the foot of the Andes, but when Lechner enters, the rich tonality of her cello somehow moves the image somewhere less rural. Elsewhere, the medley of Saluzzi's "Candor" with "Soledad," written by singer/songwriter/actor Carlos Gardel—a prominent figure in the history of the tango—wears its heart more decidedly on its sleeve, with Felix's tenor saxophone a mellifluous counterpoint to his brother's unerring sensitivity, while Lechner's quiet sound of fluttering wings and gentle whistles begins "Flora De Tuna" in gentle stasis, its stronger melody gradually culminating in a delicate intertwining of clarinet, cello and bandoneon, ebbing and flowing like a slow journey through a sub-Andean forest.

As Saluzzi and his partners blur the line between form and freedom, Navidad de los Andes' cinematic narrative unveils over the course of an hour, moving from a heightened sense of perception to places where the barest of whispers bears greater import.

Astor Piazzolla

bandoneon
1921 - 1992

" data-original-title="" title="">Astor Piazzolla popularized the bandoneon and brought tango into a modern age, but it's Saluzzi who's given the broader Argentinean tradition a more expansive stylistic purview; only when drawing together his entire ECM discography, beginning with 1983's solo Kultrum, is his importance fully revealed. A significant signpost along the way, Navidad de los Andes is another compelling addition to the septuagenarian bandoneonist's still unfolding oeuvre.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Flora de tuna; Sucesos; Fragments; Son qo'?ati; Requerdos de Bohemia; Gabriel Kondor; El vals de nosotros; Candor/Soledad; Variaiones sobre una melod��a popular de Jose L. Padula; Ronda de ni?os en la monta?a; Oto?o.

Personnel

Dino Saluzzi

bandoneon

Dino Saluzzi: bandoneon; Anja Lechner: violoncello; Felix Saluzzi: tenor saxophone, clarinet.

Album information

Title: Navidad De Los Andes | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: ECM Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

New Gary Burton Quartet: San Diego, ...
< Previous

The Thing, London, October 4, 2011
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.