ArtistInfo

Octeto Buenos Aires

Band,
Latin and World

In 1955, Astor Piazzolla returns to Buenos Aires, where he forms an orchestra, which plays until 1958, called the Octeto Buenos Aires. This octet is a marked departure from the standard quintet; two bandoneóns (Astor Piazzolla and Leopoldo Federico), two violins (Enrico Mario Francini and Hugo Baralis), a double bass (Juan Vasallo), a cello (José Bragato), a piano (Atilio Stampone), and an electric guitar (Horacio Malvicino) - it marks the birth of Tango Nuevo! Unfortunately traditional tangueros despise the music and there is fierce criticism of the genre: a common quote that would follow Astor around is that "Piazzolla is not tango". Furthermore he is running short of funds; so to record he has to sign away all royalties. He is bitter on this point, as his monetary problems would continue whilst the coffers of the producers were filling as a result of the Octeto's recordings. Natalio Gorin describes the Octeto Buenos Aires as having: “Featured new rhytmic and sound effects, string counterpoint, a violin that sounded like a drum, the cello and the bass as low drums, formidable soloists, and an aggressive electric guitar improvising in most of the pieces... Some arrangements suggested disrespect... The hundred fans of the Octeto howled with pleasure wherever the group played... The rejection was to be expected, partially because of natural tendencies against anything new and because of traditional tango’s deep roots in the community. Piazzolla released two albums with this formation: Tango Progresivo (Argentina, 1956) and Tango Moderno (Argentina, 1957)

Members

	Astor Piazzolla ban 1921-1992 AR
	José Bragato vc *1915 AR
	Hugo Baralis vn 1914-2002
	Horacio Malvicino g *1929
	Leopoldo Federico ban 1927-2014 AR
	Atilio Stampone p *1926 AR
	Enrique Mario Francini vn
	Juan José Vasallo b
	Hamlet Greco b *1920