BAJOFONDO
Sunday, August 17
@ Mod Club Theatre, 722 College St.
w/ DJ medicineman (CIUT 89.5 FM – ‘No Man’s Land’)
Doors 8 pm, concert 9 pm
Tickets: $30 advance @ www.smallworldmusic.com & Soundscapes Records (572 College St.)
Website: bajofondotangoclub.com / www.myspace.com/bajofondomardulce
Small World Music proudly presents the intoxicating and seductive sounds of BAJOFONDO, led by Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santolalla, at the Mod Club. For more information, please visit www.smallworldmusic.com.
Bajofondo (Tango Club) blend the seductive sounds of tango with trip-hop, house, drum & bass and electronica to create an intoxicating brew that has won over dancefloors around the globe. Led by two-time Academy Award winner Gustavo Santolalla (Babel / Brokeback Mountain) the group makes their Canadian debut at the Mod Club, celebrating the release of their new CD Mar Dulce, which features a guest appearance by Canada’s Nelly Furtado.
Even though Bajofondo has been a pioneer in what has been known all over the world as “electronica tango,” the group doesn’t consider that this definition is appropriate for their music. It’s been five
years since Gustavo Santolalla conceived this project along with Juan Campodónico, with the idea of bringing together Argentine and Uruguayan artists dedicated to creating “contemporary music of the Rio de la Plata.” Santolalla believes that in order to create a music that represents today’s sounds of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, genres such as tango, murga, milonga and candombé are going to be present, because they are part of the genetic-musical map of that part of the world. But the 40 years of Argentinian and Uruguayan rock, hip-hop and electronica must also be included. Under the name Bajofondo Tango Club, the project consisted of producers, musicians and singers that shaped their sound in the recording studio, resulting in the release of their first album.
Their first work, Bajofondo Tango Club, was also the first release of VIBRA, a division of SURCO dedicated to researching electronica and its crossings with the various sources of Latin American music. The album, released in November 2002, features a very long list of guest artists such as Jorge Drexler, Adriana Varela, Cristóbal Repetto, Adrián Iaies, Didi Gutman and Pablo Mainetti, among others. Bajofondo Tango Club quickly caused a stir in Argentina and all over the world because of the originality of its proposition; the songs could be heard in clubs as well as dance parties. This work won the prestigious Premio Gardel as the Best Electronica Music Album in Argentina and a Latin Grammy award as the Best Instrumental Pop Album.
What began as a combination of programming and sampling with acoustic and electric instruments – with emphasis on the first – has evolved into a band in which everything is practically played live, with only a minimal percentage of sequences and programming. At the present time, Bajofondo is an eight-member band, with seven musicians and a VJ who triggers images in real time along with the music. As a result of the band’s musical expansion, Bajofondo also started integrating elements of Latin American folkloric music in its performances, so when it came time to tackle their new album, they decided to do away with “Tango Club” and shorten their name simply to Bajofondo. The change in the name, more inclusive and with an immediate impact, mirrors the path Bajofondo’s music has followed.
Their latest album, Mar Dulce, was recorded in real time, with all the members playing together in the studio as if they were a rock or jazz group, a radically different approach than the one used on the first album. On this album, even the strings were played by a string section conducted by Alejandro Teran, in a tango orchestra fashion, which includes four violins, two violas and one cello. Mar Dulce reflects a cosmopolitan feel, having been recorded in cities like Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Los Angeles, New York,
Tokyo and Madrid. Guest artists include Elvis Costello, Spanish rapper Mala Rodríguez, Nelly Furtado, virtuoso Japanese bandoneon player Ryota Komatsu and several Rio de la Plata artists whose origins cover the entire gamut from traditional to vanguard. Uruguayan artists participating range from the great Lágrima Ríos (this was to be her last recording) and guitarist Toto Méndez (who was the musical director of Alfredo Zitarrosa’s quartet) to electronica duo OMAR and vocalist Fernando Santullo. Argentine artists include Gustavo Cerati, who in the 80’s was the frontman for Soda Stereo, the most popular rock group in Latin America, and Juan Subirá.
Ever-evolving, the group continues to hone its sound, adding new ingredients, arduously selecting beats and bass lines, but there is always an aesthetic that remains a constant. It becomes evident that what they like to call “bajofondista school” reaches new heights in Mar Dulce, in which parameters are more profound, due to the group’s new dynamics and the creative interaction of its members. The album boasts gems such as “Pa’ Bailar” (where the tango and rock beats intersect in an irresistible danceable communion), “Fairly Right” (a happy meeting of the melancholy found in tango and the Beatles’ musicality, with the voice of Elvis Costello) and “Don Alfredo” (gets into the Uruguayan milonga, paying tribute to Zitarrosa with the participation of Toto Méndez, who was his guitarist).
As a solo artist Gustavo Santaolalla began working on film soundtracks in the late 1990s, producing music for the films Amores Perros, 21 Grams and The Motorcycle Diaries. Currently based in California, one of his more recent contributions has been the instrumental music for the soundtrack to 2005’s Award-winning Brokeback Mountain. The song “A Love That Will Never Grow Old” won the 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Santaolalla has received a 2006 Academy Award for Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) for Brokeback Mountain. In 2007, he received his second Academy Award for the film score to Babel, beating out such composers as Thomas Newman, Alexandre Desplat, and Javier Navarrete. Gustavo dedicated the award to his father and to his country Argentina.
