Argentine bassist/composer Pablo Langouguere has been living and making music in NYC since 2013, but his melodic musings and rhythmic energies never stray far from his roots in Buenos Aires. Since 2016, the versatile musician with the mile-long resume has been a founding member of the traditional tango sextet Abaddon. He has also been a member of Daniel Binelli’s Astoria Tango Orchestra and toured with the Alejandro Ziegler Tango Quartet.
As the fresh album title Eclectico implies, tango – as sensitively and sensually presented on tracks like the modern and romantic “Piano Piano” and sly, graceful “Valz Para Olvidar” – is simply the foundation of this wildly diverse, rhythmically peripatetic 12 track collection from his quintet. Though Langouguere’s keen sense of groove and propensity for quick moodswings propels the energy throughout, Eclectico is a grand ensemble work, most prominently featuring the adventurous melodies, harmonies and soloing magic of Nick Danielson (violin), Emilio Teubal (piano) and Franco Pinna, whose tasteful yet boisterous skinning makes hypnotica out of the exotica.
Threading through the hard-hitting dramatic pieces are two brief but beautiful interludes, the classical flavored bass and violin duet “Rotin” and the trippy and ambient “Introspection,” featuring the gorgeous electric guitar melody of Federico Diaz.