QUINTETO OTRA VEZ & MARTIN ALVARADO (voc)

Matti Ekman (acc) Markus Elgland (gtr) Tony Elgland (dbs) Antti Heermann (v) Matti Laukkanen (p) Martin Alvarado (voc)

Finnish nuevo tango –quintet Quinteto ¡Otra Vez! (“Once more!”) has been since 1999 one of the most productive nuevo tango –orchestras in Finland. Quinteto has had performances in Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Czech, Russia… and in Buenos Aires, of course.

Recent years the quintet has been widely acknowledged as the creator of a new musical phenomenon in Finland, namely nuevo tango finlandés; with the deep respect to Piazzollian tradition, the quintet, with the composers, additional artists and vocalists of our time, innovate the nuevo tango –genre as if they were asking ‘after Piazzolla, where to go and how’?

The last two years has opened a new era with deep co-operation with an Argentinean extremely talented vocalist Martin Alvarado. Combining innovative elements of tango nuevo finlandés and the rich tradition and roots of Argentinean tango we have an outstanding phenomenon at hand, tango norte, tango sur.

It has produced new and surprisingly fresh tango, applying itself as well as the sextet as the scale of symphony orchestra (tour taking place in Finland and reaching abroad these days).

In the spirit of tango nuevo finlandés Quinteto has released three CDs of Quinteto Otra Vez.

“Nuevo Tango” (OTRCD1, 2002) includes 10 pieces by Piazzolla and 3 pieces representing nuevo tango finlandés, composed by Matti Laukkanen and Markus Elgland, members of the quintet. The featuring guest in the CD is world-famous vibraphonist Severi Pyysalo.

“Otra Vez” (OTRCD2, 2005, SACD-format) includes 4 pieces by Piazzolla (one of them the exceptional rarity “Introduccion a Héroes y Tumbas”) and 6 pieces representing nuevo tango finlandés, pieces ordered by ¡Otra Vez! and composed for this CD by Finnish contemporary composers. The CD introduces La Nueva Orquesta de Cuerdas, talent strings as well. The CD was picked as one of “The record of the year 2005” –list by the biggest Finnish newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat.

“Otra Vez” includes also a DVD-booklet telling tango stories and opening Finnish cultural landscapes (in Spanish, German and English). For listener it says: please travel to the full moon of DVD (the icon of tango in Finland) and choose “slide show” to pick up the backgrounds of ¡Otra Vez!.

In the spirit of tango norte, tango sur the third CD (Alba Records ABCD 268, 2008), also carrying the name of the phenomenon, ¡Otra Vez! plays with outstanding Argentinean singer, Martin Alvarado. Arrangements for traditional tango pieces by ¡Otra Vez! are nuevo in deed, and outstanding vocalist Alvarado takes care of the rest. BUY this great piece of new tangomusic joining to gigs, from stores or webshop!

Tango norte, tango sur has also multiplied to a huge symphonic project El concierto Del nuevo tango. Eight remarkable pieces flowing on stage, combining traditional tango roots, three of them from Gardel, Stamponi and Piazzolla arranged to a totally new shape; five of them created by Otra Vez itself expressing the whole scale of tangoidian influences with music as a radically free material.

Started with co-operation with Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä and its talented conductor-in-chief and flutist Patrick Gallois, the project seeks its way to all stages where quality music is needed and wanted.

Please do not hesitate to get inspired and to imagine what all this could mean to your stage or festival.

We give all our efforts in order to make an outstanding musical experience come true with you.