Boulouris? A spirited encounter between five exceptional artists desiring to make music together. A heteroclite formation consisting of violin; guitar; clarinet; double bass and bass clarinet. Five professionals trained in classical and jazz music in search of musical indulgence beyond the constraints of their work; in search of a place in which freedom of expression and creativity reign. They discovered this place in the music of Astor Piazzolla; the founder of the Nuevo Tango movement. It is notated music; but it contains no barriers with regard to interpretation; thus allowing each performer to exploit his instrument to the fullest. Boulouris did away with the sacrosanct bandoneon in order to give birth to a more personal and expressive ensemble sound.

PIAZZOLLA

Boulouris 5 isn’t just a tango orchestra; even if dance does play a central role in their music. By opting for Tango Nuevo (a blend of traditional tango music with contemporary classical music that was highly criticized for breaking traditional rules and being too complex to be danced to) they opted for a music based on pulse and rhythm. The works on this recording present a mixture of different tango periods as Piazzolla experienced them: fugue; theme and variations; milango; minimalism; concertante form; jazz; etc.

TANGO NUEVO

The “Tango Nuevo” spectacle took flight with the performance at the Lausanne Municipal Theater in 2002; a co-production with the Vidy-Lausanne Theater and with the subtle support of the Italian producer and playwright Stefan Di Lauro. Tango Nuevo? A kind of voyage into the artist with various scenes of his life that pass by. The experience is so manifold and moving that one is not sure if carried away by the music; manipulated by the stage setting or if one’s own imagination simply took over.

LIVE

Conceived in the style of a cabaret; “Tango Nuevo” skirts upon tango; stage sketches and rounds of song. Melancholy mixes with humor in a sensitive and intimate balance. The joy and sense of complicity of the musicians is absolute; they seem to surf on the wave of music. This live recording; made at the beginning of summer in 2004; was enhanced by the wonderful acoustics of the small Vevey Theater near Lake Geneva. The result provides a telling image of the program: direct; magical.