Tanguísimo

This nine-CD Piazzolla bumper-pack gathers in one accordion-like sleeve a significant sampling of the recordings Astor Piazzolla made with various bands between 1945 and 1961 on the Odéon, RCA Victor and TK labels, among others. The period, that is, before he spun off in the rhythmically complex, jazz-inflected direction that would make him world famous and, in Argentina, infamous. The tracks are mainly others’ compositions, including orchestral versions of songs written by Filiberto, Piana, De Caro and Canaro, as well as a selection of vocal numbers. It’s an impressive study in musicology, not least because the sources are so disparate and unreliable, and as the years pass we start to listen for a trace of the Piazzolla we know. We hear an original composition from as early as 1947, ‘Se Armó, that occasionally sounds a little edgy and eccentric. His ‘Dedé’ and a version of a standard, ‘La Cumparsita,’ date from 1951 and have a lyricism suited more to the darkened concert hall than the dance floor. By 1955 – after Nadia Boulanger had told Piazzolla to stick to tango – music such as ‘Prepáranse’ (Get Ready) is the work of a mature virtuoso testing tango’s romanticism.

This is a scratchy set of albums and probably too comprehensive for most dilettante tangueros. But for those interested in the evolution of the most important post-war exponent of a tradition, they will be invaluable.