Andrew says:
“I was born... in Tasmania and studied at the Victorian College of the Arts and then in Buenos Aires and Havana, Cuba

“I discovered tango music when... I first heard live recordings of the Astor Piazzolla quintet when I was 17. I think the album was 'Live in Lausanne' and "Luna". The recording had a tremendous live atmosphere and you could feel the energy coming from the bass and piano

“My favourite tango composer is ... Horacio Salgán. His music is incredible… swings like crazy and played so strongly. He has pioneered many new syncopations and cross phrasing in his tangos, his variaciones are so creative! He is a meticulous and prolific arranger. I think he is an undiscovered genius, rarely heard of outside Argentina.

“The modern tango orchestras I enjoy most are... Orquesta Tipica Fernandez Fierro (OTFF) and Orquesta Arranque. OTFF use many stylistic influences from Pugliese, yet incorporate many contemporary ideas in their phrasing and use of silence. OTFF are taking tango music to a new audience by playing in accessible venues, and with a great sense of humour. I had the pleasure of seeing them play weekly in Buenos Aires and I had the pleasure of seeing them play weekly in Buenos Aires and meeting Julian Peralta, their pianist and arranger.

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“Colectivo29 was set up when... I returned to Melbourne after studying Piano and Tango Arranging in Buenos Aires with Hernan Possetti.

“The other members of the orchestra are... fantastic beautiful musicians who are very busy playing around the Melbourne scene.  They are; Mischa Herman - Accordion, Aaron Barnden - Violin, Tamara Murphy - Bass and Penelope Witt - Cello. Penelope has also lived and performed in Buenos Aires, and completed PhD research in the Cello in Tango Music.

“Our repertoire ranges from... Classic arrangements from Carlos di Sarli and Juan D'Arienzo to tunes by Pugliese and Salgán and one or two of our favourite Piazzolla pieces.

“ My advice to someone in Australia who would like to learn to play tango music is... get to know as many of the 'standards' as you can, and then notice how each Tango musician strives to find his own individual phrasing within a tune. Whether as a section or soloist, learn the ways the masters phrase and articulate passages. After a while you will develop your own sense of phrasing in the music, and this will become your individual voice.

“If you are new to tango music I suggest you... listen to Carlos Di Sarli from the Golden Era of Tango. Then try some Pugliese, which sounds more contemporary after all the harmonic developments that happened in music in the 60s. If you are from a Jazz background have a listen to some early recordings of the Astor Piazzolla Quintet.

“The most exciting thing about tango music today is... Julian Peralta's (ex piano and leader of OTFF) new group 'Astillero Tango'. Julian, while still young knows the whole history of Tango music, and is pushing the idea of the Tango as a micro-composition. He uses many Candombe references and writes rich and intriguing textures. His music is heavy, and the whole Astillero sextet have an incredible power in their playing.”

You can hear snippets of Colectivo29
performing on their website – and read more about this enterprising group. The photo shows the group performing Melbourne - they are frequent performers on the Melbourne tango scene.