“How about that tango from Scent of a Woman?” may be one of the most commonly heard requests to Chicago piano freelancers. Had Al Pacino’s improbable footwork been set to a waltz, it’s likely “Por una Cabeza” would not be sitting atop wedding reception request lists. This enigmatic dance, with its passionate alternations of restraint and eruption, is instantly distinguishable, and the focus of Chicagoan Amy Briggs’ latest.
Briggs approached composers David Rakowski, Amy Williams and fellow Chicagoan Stacy Garrop, among others, to add their own musical responses to the Argentine tradition. Combined with selections from Yvar Mikhashoff’s “International Tango Collection,” the U. of C. professor’s Tangos for Piano is an astounding and manifold collection of deconstructions and reinventions.
Audiences present at one of the Hyde Parker’s many MusicNow appearances know that Briggs is the Sully Sullenberger of the piano, her wrangling of Boulez scores not unlike negotiating a crash-landing in an Airbus A320. The pianist’s rhythmic command is in full display here, whether navigating the swing of Frederic Rzewski’s “Steptangle,” replete with percussive foot stomps, or Conlon Nancarrow’s pointillistic exploration, “Tango?”
Many selections deviate outside the realm of the danceable, demanding to be heard on multiple passes for full sonic digestion. Yet the 43-year-old is careful to intersperse immediately gratifying numbers such as Nils Vigeland’s moonlit “Tango à deux,” or Lou Harrison’s Parisian café–esque, “Tandy’s Tango.” Yes, requisite grandmaster Astor Piazzolla is here, too. His kinetic “Escualo” closes the album with fuego.
- Doyle Armbrust
published in Time Out Chicago on February 16th, 2011