Ensamble Nuevo Tango

Biographies In 1998, Ezekiel Lezama (oboe and founder of the ENT) was invited to take part in the Torre Cabrera International Music Festival, in Almeria, Spain.

Lezama took with him a quartet of renowned musicians, amongst others Peter Thomas (violin) at the time leader of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the composer and guitar player Fernando Egozcue. Their concert at Torre Cabrera included works by Astor Piazzolla –as well as pieces

by Egozcue- and was enthusiastically received.

This warm response and his happy musical partnership with Egozcue, prompted Lezama to form the ENT. The group’s repertoire was to be based essentially around Piazzolla’s and Egozcue’s music. However, Lezama was very aware that in order to differentiate itself from the many other tango groups and develop a recognisable musical identity, the ENT had to find a new sound. A sound that, while retaining continuity with the Buenos Aires musical tradition, reflected the many contemporary influences that feed today’s urban music of Buenos Aires. That goal has been achieved and despite its young life, the ENT is widely acknowledged for its contribution to the contemporary tango genre, its original arrangements and its unique sound. A very distinguishing feature of the ENT is the deliberate absence of the bandoneon, the archetypal tango instrument. Thus, the ENT is an atypical tango septet, formed by non-traditional tango instruments like oboe, cello, and percussion; these are joined by the more familiar guitar, violin, piano and double bass.

The musical background of the ENT members is a classical one –all the players come from classical conservatoires and have always worked with symphony orchestras and chamber music groups. However, their interest in other styles such as jazz, bossa nova, rock and tango proves their versatility and brings to the ENT a very contemporary and passionate feel. The ENT is based in Madrid and it’s formed by five Argentine musicians and two Spanish.

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Ensamble Nuevo Tango

Ensamble Nuevo Tango

THE PIAZZOLLA CONECTION After listening to some of Egozcue’s works, Piazzolla invited Egozcue and his group at the time, to premiere Piazzolla’s own ‘500 Motivaciones’ at the San Martin Theatre of Buenos Aires, an important occasion in which Piazzolla was given a prestigious civic prize. In 1986 Piazzolla gave Egozcue and Aegerter (ENT drum and percussion) the original ‘500 Motivaciones’ manuscript and in 1999 the piece was recorded for the first time by the ENT. The Ensemble recorded their second CD, ‘Tango Directo’ in 2003.

Ezequiel Lezama CV He studied the oboe with Herman Erenhaus at the Lopez Buchardo Conservatoire, in Buenos Aires. He continued his music studies in London, the oboe with John Anderson and chamber music with Peter Thomas.

In Argentina he was first oboe with the Bahia Blanca Symphony Orchestra and the National Radio Symphony Orchestra and in Spain, he plays as first oboe with the Madrid, RTVE, Malaga, Cordoba and Murcia Symphony orchestras.

He has toured South America and Europe with chamber music groups and as a soloist with symphony orchestras.

He regularly plays contemporary music with the Modern Ensemble and other groups in Spain, Netherlands, and France. He has premiered several works for oboe.

Lezama also records regularly for RTV, National Ballet, as well as music written for film and theatre.

He teaches the oboe at the Madrid College of Creative Music.

Fernando Egozcue CV Studied music at the National Conservatory of Buenos Aires and at the Madrid Amamiel Conservatoire; he also studied counterpoint and composition with Guillermo Graetzer.

Fernando wonthe First Prize at the National Guitar Competition in Argentina.

He was a member of the Moldavsky-Egozcue Duo and of the ‘Buenos Aires Soloists’ ensemble, directed by Alberto Epelbaum. He composes and records original soundtracks for films, ((Los Pasos Perdidos, de Manane Rodríguez) and theatre plays ((The Life and Death of Pierre Paolo Passolini; Nobody’s Land; Lágrimas de cera, by Roberto Cerdá). He has also recorded the guitar soundtrack for films like All About my Mother (Almodovar), La lengua de las mariposas (Jose Luis Cerda) and Flop (Eduardo Mignona). His Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra was premiered in 2004 at the National Music Auditorium, in Madrid. Fernando joined the ENT in 1998 as guitar soloist and composer for the group.

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Ensamble Nuevo Tango

Ensamble Nuevo Tango: Fernando Egozcue - Guitar Ezekiel Lezama - Oboe Miguel Rodrigáñez - Double Bass Moisés Sánchez - Piano José San Martín - Percussion Sergio Menem - Cello Tomas Potiron Violín Nélida and Jorge - Dancers

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PRESS RELEASES ENT Newspaper “El MUNDO” Madrid, February 11, 2002, Café Central

Ensamble Nuevo Tango

By Juan Krakenberger.

At the same time that Operation Triumph was being broadcast on TV, the Café Central on the Plaza del Angel in Madrid´s authentic city center was overflowing with young people who were being delighted by a different kind of music, popular, but of high quality, played by seven dedicated musicians, each a master of their respective instruments. And each one of these musicians has without a doubt dedicated as many or more years to the study of their specialtyas all the participants in Operation Triumph put together.

The group comprises four string instruments: violin, cello, bass, and guitar, and three other instruments: oboe (which plays the melody line that is normally carried by the bandoneón), piano and percussion.

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Ensamble Nuevo Tango

The soul of the group is obviously arranger and composer Fernando Egozcue, an Argentinian musician who studied with, among others, the first class musician Guillermo Graetzer (student of Hindemith), the same musician with whom a youthful Astor Piazzolla studied composition and counterpoint. This is a little-known fact; the writer of this article also studied with Graetzer, and knows of what he writes.

The first part of the programme was dedicated to several brilliant works orchestrated by Egozcue, in which all of the musicians by turn were featured. Carrying the melodies the violin and oboe, played

by Ana Malikian and Ezequiel Lezama respectively, demonstrated their excellent technique and musicality. This music suits the temperament of the violinist as if it had been written especially for him. Not in vain have many Armenians chosen Argentina as a second country—might it have to do with the affinity of the initial letters AR?—and it would appear that a spontaneous mutual understanding exists. Malikian, who discovered this music here in Madrid, is without a doubt an important virtuoso of his instrument, from which he draws all the colors that the tango demands.

The concert began again after the intermission with two guitar solos by Egozcue, who demonstrated his mastery of the instrument and his musicality. The next work was the most important one of the night Piazzolla’s Four Seasons. This is a piece that is finding its way into the classical music circuit thanks to Gidon Kremer and other famous violinists who play it in alternation with the work of the same name by Vivaldi. Some of the cello and violin solos were played with great skill, good taste, and excellent statement.

It is worth noting that intricate counterpoint passages are accepted without protest by such a young audience—what would they say if they were written by Bach?—and this leads us to reflect that Piazzolla might be an ideal bridge to reach an audience that rejects elitism but that deep down inside likes good music. Because it must be emphasized that the execution of these works is anything but easy. It is incredibly demanding both technically and rhythmically, and not everyone included in the wide range of classical music is able to do it justice. For that reason it is doubly satisfying that seven fine musicians who not only know how to do it, but who do it very well, have gotten together in Madrid.

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Ensamble Nuevo Tango

Metrópoli.Argentine Flavour.

Already considered one of the leading ensembles in this genre, the ENT septet will appear on June 29 & 30 at 22 pm in the Clamores auditorium.

Thanks to Piazzolla's innovate writing, the tango has become a universal and progressive genre which allows an endless range of stylistic and approaches. Based on this flexible foundation, the ENT makes introspective yet passionate and lyrical music. A characteristic of this septet is that the traditional bandoneon has been successfully replaced with oboe and cello, producing a sound that evokes both classical music and cool jazz traditions, without losing its typically porteno roots. Such rich and suggestive mix is the product of the diverse musical background of the ENT's members. The Lebanese violinist - a virtuoso of the classical repertoire-, the Spanish double-bass - member of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, and the Argentinian oboe, cello, piano, guitar and percussion players form a tight and focused ensemble that excels in the superb 500 Motivaciones. The ENT will play in Sala Clamores today and tomorrow at 10 pm.

La Razón: Saturday 2nd February Sumptuous Proposition Recently we have had varied references to a new Argentinian tango arriving in these parts.

Astor Piazzolla lead the New Tango movement more than 50 years ago, and those who follow in his footsteps today base their work on the memory of his legacy, as well as on the orbits of jazz or of chamber music. Last year we discovered the disc “500 motivaciones” (Ceyba) by the Ensamble Nuevo Tango, a group that will be performing through tomorrow in the Café Central.

If the disc caused a good impression, the appearance of this septet on this small stage has all the ingredients necessary to be able to grab the listener. The group, which comprises five Argentinians, one Lebanese and one Spaniard, all residents in Madrid, has turned out to be a string quintet (violin, piano, guitar, bass and cello) with an oboe and percussion. The apparent leader is Fernando Egozcue, who signs the group´s original compositions, one of which is Ruegos y preguntas, a piece that is not on the disc, which is interpreted with gusto and resolve in a fortunate climactic succession.

Urban lamentation. But a substantial part of their repertoire is signed by the master Piazzolla, including some of the tangos that the bandoneón player recorded with the American baritone saxophonist, Gerry Muligan, in immortal discs. They know how to give Piazzolla´s music the dash that it demands, while at the same time enveloping it in a sumptuous chamber- music format that makes the tango, that urban lamentation born in a port tavern, a most pleasant listening experience.

Their instrumental form might remind one of the group Oregon during their best acoustic years, without bridging the gap to what is no longer called New Age ( music from heaven to the Producciones Lastra S.L. C/ Estrella Polar 12, 5 Izq – 28007 Madrid Tel: 0034 91 521 77 23 E-mail: prodlastra@telefonica.net 5

Ensamble Nuevo Tango

unnameable). Rather, with their chamber music statement, on occasions they seem to plant the roots of the tango in the European Renaissance. And they transform Piazzolla´s “winters and summers of Buenos Aires” into sweet observation points of melancholy. It´s possible that this rendering of tango lacks a little of the flavour of the back streets, but played this well, who cares?

El Punto de las Artes: The “Creative Music” series, by Victor Burell There is only good music and bad music, anything else is a question of getting lost among useless classifications. I don´t know if there are actually five hundred reasons that prompt me to write this epilogue, nor, to avoid being tedious, am I going to enumerate them, but there are certainly many. I attended a concert in Conde Duque´s “Creative Music” Series, the title of which announced: “ Piazzolla and his influence”. On the stage of the smart little theatre which was filled to overflowing, a septet with the same name as that of this chronicle.

Ensamble Nuevo Tango is composed of Ara Malikian (violin), Ezequiel Lezama (oboe), Fernando Egozcue (guitar), Oscar Grossi (cello), Miguel Rodrigañuez (bass), Laura Pedreira (piano) and Andy Aergeter (percussion). The music, by Piazzolla, Egozcue, Troilo, Grossi and Villoldo; the arrangements by Egozcue; and the musical direction by Egozcue and Lezama.

These are formidable musicians and, like the majority of their audience, young. And this is youthful music, although it has had something of an eternal quality since its birth more than a hundred years ago, in the heat of the bandoneón from Buenos Aires. It began in low and pimpish neighborhoods, full of sex and ballroom dancing, danger, love and jealousy, and developed into authentic concert music. Now it has evolved once again, but still maintaining that essential character of passion. Beside Piazzolla are Ginastea, Nadia Boulanger, and a third character who, as Piazzolla affirmed, he found in the cold pension rooms, in the cabarets of the 40´s, in the cafés with boxes and small orchestras, in the people of yesterday and today and in the sound of the streets. This third friend is called Buenos Aires. Ensamble Nuevo Tango hasn´t lost its marvellous flavor.

Review from the web www.detangueros.com.ar, August 2000. 500 motivaciones When Astor Piazzolla gave birth to the music he called New Tango, it was an arduous creative rocess.

Yet the movement has grown and flourished in the different manifestations and interpretations of his work which continue to appear. Here is a group directly bound to this tradition by two distinct ties: firstly by the style of playing and composition of their own works; and secondly by their carefully chosen name – Ensamble Nuevo Tango – and the title of this CD “500 motivaciones” (a piece by Piazzolla).

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Ensamble Nuevo Tango

The arrangements and compositions on this disc possess, in general, a delicate balance between the intrinsic power of the pieces written by, or in the style of, Piazzolla, and the more gentle feeling created in the beautiful compositions of Fernando Egozcue (the group’s own guitarist).

The same balance is reflected between the brilliance of the percussion and the delicate interpretations which flow from the sounds of the oboe, bound together by the ensemble playing of the group. Among the many ways of interpreting this type of tango, Ensamble Nuevo Tango has found a style which is grounded in excellent classical musicianship but which does not neglect the raunchy sentiments of the port of Buenos Aires, so fundamental to the soul of this music.

EL PAIS www.elpais.es No. 367 Friday 3rd November 2000 (a review of the CD 500 Motivations) TemptationsBy Fernando Neira Piazzolla's legacy is the point of reference for this Argentine septet based in Madrid, who, in this recording, brings a performance of remarkable aplomb and of romantic and passionate mood. These qualities appear not only in the Piazzolla pieces (Adiós Nonino, Verano Porteño) but also in those works by guitarist Fernando Egozcue, particularly the superb Tango en Silencio. It's hard to remain unmoved by this splendid alliance of instruments and sounds.

TANGO REPORTER: ENSAMBLE NUEVO TANGO. 500 MOTIVACIONES This album has the same name as a composition by Astor Piazzolla, whose manuscript was given as a gift more than 15 years ago to two of the members of the group, the Argentinian musicians FernandoEgozcue and Andy Aegerter. Both of them, residents in Madrid, formed their ensemble with hispanic musicians and recorded it for the first time. Even though all their members are of classical extraction, they manage to give a” tango-ish “air to the ensamble, to which they add the subtleties of jazz and the harmonies typical of European classical music. Based on compositions by Piazzolla and Egozcue, a guitarrist with an obvious Piazzollian influence which provides a certain thematic unity, the CD could well be considered a total success, as the melodic and all-encompassing sound of the Ensamble grabs the listener from the very beginning. Ezekiel Lezama (oboe), Ara Malikian (violin) and Egozcue take the honors of this disc, whose most outstanding pieces are Viejos aires and Agua y vino, and the versions of Piazzolla´s compostions, Invierno porteño, Adiós Nonino and 500 motivaciones, with the same name as that of the album.

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Ensamble Nuevo Tango

ABC, Madrid: Ensamble Nuevo Tango at Café Central. By Luís Martin Directed by the Argentinian guitarist Fernando Egozcue, Ensamble Nuevo Tango was born in Madrid as one more piece in the meshing of our sensitivities with those from Buenos Aires.

The Argentine maestro Astor Piazzolla began the process several decades ago, creating a prolific school of enthusiasts for tango Nuevo. Since then, and after various presentations in very diverse spots in the city, this formation has become one of the more important groups striving to spread the cadences of the tango from Buenos Aires. This septet will be in the Café Central from tonight through next Sunday presenting their stimulating recent album with the revealing title of 500 motivations, which moulds the legacy of Astor Piazzolla with the perspective of chamber music.

El Pais, 29 January 2001.

by Carlos Galilea - New Year´s Tango

The good news is that in these parts you can now hear high quality instrumental tango. It´s being played by the Ensamble Nuevo Tango, whose name sounds like a declaration of principles: they play the low-class urban music that was revolutionized by Astor Piazzolla in the second half of the 20th century.

The group introduced itself with Ser dos, a refined work with a European-type chamber arrangement and an Afroamerican rhythmic pulse, written by the guitarist Fernando Egozcue. They followed up with another of Egozcue´s works that was dramatically cinematographic: Tango en silencio., a contemporary tango to which have been added musical elements noticeable in groups like Pat Metheny, Paul Winter or Ralph Towner. A grandiose tango, curiously performed without the bandoneón that is associated with contemporary tango, but which still maintained the spirit of Piazzolla. The chilling melody was interpreted with the passion and lyricism that the master intended for the winters of Buenos Aires, the violin being the highlighted instrument. The violinist in the Ensamble is Lebanese; a Spanish bass player and five Argentinian musicians complete the chamber formation.

With the men dressed in black and the woman in grey, their version of the classic Adios Nonino wasn´t totally convincing, in spite of the determination with which they all interpreted the piece. In the end, that moving farewell that Astor Piazzolla offered to his father Vicente seems to be a terrible trap for anyone who interprets it, because it is very difficult to avoid a comparison with the recording of the author. There is more light than shade in the Ensamble Nuevo Tango, whose repertoire includes 500 motivaciones the piece that the selfsame Piazzolla presented to two of the members of the Ensamble. At that time they were performing in a quartet in Buenos Aires, and the piece has been adapted to the characteristics of this septet. Even so, the most applauded pieces were Cupa and Ruegos y Preguntas, two original works by Egozcue. They have a CD by which they can be discovered, 500 motivaciones (Ceyba), and they will be at the Café Central in Madrid from the 29th of January until the 4th of February.

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