Venezuelan rhythms

For centuries, musicians have been in the vanguard of globalization, and they continue to be. An example is Aquiles Báez, leader of a Venezuelan quintet whose members have been trained in performance styles ranging from Renaissance music to fusion, pop and Latin jazz. Their recent program at the IDB Cultural Center included Báez’s own jazz compositions inspired by Venezuelan rhythms.

Tribute to a legend
Astor Piazzolla applied his musical genius to Argentina’s legendary tango, and in the process became a legend himself. Not only jazz greats, such as Gerry Mulligan, but also classical musicians, such as Yo-Yo Ma, have recorded his works, and now the first full-scale English language biography of this controversial visionary has come off the press. One of two authors of Le Grand Tango: The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla, María Susana Azzi, recently presented a lecture at the IDB’s Cultural Center that described the composer’s revolutionary fusion of the tango with jazz and classical influences, the opposition from traditionalists, and Piazzolla’s subsequent self-exile in Europe. The lecture was followed by a performance of tango music by Uruguayan bandoneonist Alejandro Muzio and Puerto Rican pianist José Cáceres.

Music of Brazil

Two young Brazilian artists brought the music of their countryman Heitor Villa-Lobos to an enthusiastic audience at the IDB Cultural Center in April. The concert, which was held in conjunction with the Brazil 500 celebrations, was performed by cellist Tania Lisboa and pianist Miriam Braga. The duo has been together for five years and received enthusiastic reviews for their recording of the complete piano-cello works of Villa-Lobos. Their IDB performance included four of these compositions.

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