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152 Notes, September 2008

The documentary Abrazos: Tango en


Buenos Aires covers the day-by-day excite-
ment of the Fifth Annual Festival Inter -
nacional Buenos Aires Tango festival, nine
days of concerts, dancing, and dance compe-
titions. The camera follows the dancers and
musicians as they arrive from around the
world and prepare for the show. Many of the
performers and audience member are inter-
viewed, and they ruminate about what tango
means, both to them and to Buenos Aires.
Everyone is intensely devoted to tango.
Throughout the lm, interviews cut away
to musical performances, some full length
and some brief. The rst concert, by the
group Sexteto Mayor, sets the passionate
and intimate atmosphere for the rest of
the lm with its acoustic instrumentation:
piano, two violins, and two accordions.
Front and center is the star instrument of
the tango band, the bandoneon, a cousin of
the concertina.
Most of the musicians in Sexteto Mayor
are senior citizens; all have dazzling tech-
nique, agility, and sensitivity, and are mas-
ters of their instruments. One of the
younger musicians says of playing with
Sexteto Mayor that its like being a rocker
Though born in rural Arkansas, Frank
Son Seals ultimately embodied a Chicago
blues guitar and vocal style which friends
and fans could identify within a riff. Sons
father ran a juke joint in Osceola, Arkansas.
He had thirteen (maybe fourteen) chil-
dren, but Frank was the youngest, and
known as Son. He grew up listening and
learning from the traveling old guard of
blues players such as Robert Nighthawk
and Albert King. A Journey Through the
Blues: The Son Seals Story tells his story in a
simple and direct manner, much like the
man himself.
The DVD is segmented organically with
phrases attributed to Son, such as It Just
Grew up In Me, and Before You Develop
There Is No You. There are interviews with
Son, his family, and a host of friends rang-
ing from Koko Taylor, a legend herself, to
Steven Seagal, a fellow blues musician and
fan. Dr. John, a credible authority on all
things blues, says Son kept it all real. They
all attest that Son was a regular guy who
turned ery when he played his guitar. No
one ever had a bad word to say about him,
except perhaps his ex-wife who shot him in
the face and lodged a bullet in his jaw.
Little known at the time, Bruce Iglauer of
Alligator Records befriended Son on his ar-
rival in Chicago, became his manager, and
sold his records in 1973 from the back of
his car. His promotion led to appearances
at The Bottom Line and rave reviews in
Rolling Stone. With it all, Son still pro-
claimed, Nobody ever got rich playing the
blues. Now Iglauers company represents
and records the best in blues, from Robert
Cray to Johnny Winter. When Son rst
started out touring in bands, he had to be
able to play in every popular style. How -
ever, he also knew he had to keep trying
something different until he developed his
own distinctive style. He dened the elec-
tric Chicago blues: tough, funk, slow and
up-tempo, always erce. His vocals, al-
though rough and unpolished, are as dis-
tinctive as his playing, and reminiscent of
Leonard Cohen.
DVD extras are three live performances
from the House of Blues and the Rooster
Blues in Chicago, and the Chicago Blues
Festival, all late in his career, Those were
rough times for Son as he fought diabetes
and the amputations that too often follow.
His sister describes his battles with health
problems, but says he just gave up in the
end. Though the DVD is short, it is, like
Son himself, direct and to the point.
Viewers are bound to be impressed with his
talent and innovation.
Gerald A. Notaro
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
Son Seals. A Journey Through the Blues: The Son Seals Story. DVD.
Produced by Peter Carlson. [Santa Fe: NM]: Sagebrush Productions,
2007. SB102. $17.99.
Abrazos: Tango en Buenos Aires. DVD. With Adriana Varela, Sexteto
Mayor, Raul Lavie, Ruben Juarez, Rodolfo Mederos. In Spanish, with
English subtitles. [S. I. Argentina]: Tipica Films, 2006, 2003. 005-03. $25.98.
Video Reviews 153
and playing with the Rolling Stones. Luis
Stazo, one of the bandoneonistas from
Sexteto Mayor says that it has been sixty-six
years since he rst started playing the ban-
doneon. Tango is my life. I was born that
way; Ill die that way.
Song lyrics are often lled with a deep
yearning, and singers sing of lost love and
aching passion. During the rehearsal of
one song, in which singer Mara Graa
sings of loneliness and hope, the camera
cuts back in time to the band at rehearsal,
discussing how best to compliment the
lyrics with the instruments. They agree to
approach the song softly, with pauses, slow-
ing at key points as the singer sings that she
is, Lonely among so many people, and the
fear of falling in love again . . . lonely until
the time of love comes back.
The age range of the dance contestants
spans from young to very old, and they all
bring a measure of sophistication, spryness,
and enthusiasmand passion; always pas-
sion. The preparation of the dancers back-
stage is exhilarating and tense. Everyone is
in constant motion: warming up, rehears-
ing their moves, grooming, shining shoes,
and checking makeup. Men dress in digni-
ed formal wear, and while the womens
fashion is colorful, striking, form tting,
and sleek, it is equally elegant. Nowhere is
there a gaudy excess of sequins, beads, or
glitz.
Dancers are judged by their appearance
and how they move with the music. One
judge comments, They have to dance in a
way that they seem to be one. To some of
the dancers it is an honor just to be here.
To most it is the competition of a lifetime.
A couple from Japan gushes that it has
been their dream to dance tango in Buenos
Aires. When the competition is nished,
the couple that won the tango world cham-
pionship said they have only been dancing
about ve years each and one year to-
gether. They fell in love dancing tango.
The camera work during the dance com-
petitions is often a series of quick edits, set
to the performance of a single song. The
quick cuts show different couples from
many different angles: close ups of feet,
hips, hands on waists, faces, and torsos.
Couples glide, twirl, and dip, always in a
strong embrace. Toward the end of the
lm there is a tender segment as an elderly
couple tango in a crowded backstage area.
There is no music playing, but as the cou-
ple dances, the man softly croons a heart-
felt love song to the woman.
Throughout the lm are testimonies
about tango. A member of the audience
comments about tango, Its an expression
of Argentina, of who we are. Many compare
Argentinian tango with non-Argentinian
tango. One Argentinian dancer notes that
Europeans dance more steps, and pay
more attention to the technique rather
than the feeling, whereas Argen tineans pay
more attention to the feeling.
Composer Luis Borda, an Argentinian
expatriate living in Germany, notes that,
When you meet Argentineans abroad they
bring a bit of Argentina in the tango.
Though he composes in Germany, he says
his music always refers to Buenos Aires, to
Argentina, and to what he learned there.
Borda and others ponder about the future
of tango and how it is a constantly evolving
art form. He says that if tango only stands
for the past then it loses the relevance it
has now gained internationally. A young
musician whose band plays an electronic
tango hybrid talks about how the tango is
now in our hands. The older generation
has passed away, he says. I think its a
great responsibility. The question now is:
what do we really want to do with Tango?
The movie ends with bandeonista telling
a story about the rst time anyone saw
tango in a movie; it was a silent lm, and
the woman had a sombrero and castanets,
Mexican and Spanish visual cues, and the
caption said that the scene was set on the
Argentinian pampas. So he made up his
mind that everyone does their own tango.
Theres a lot to footage to cram into less
than two hours, and many performances
get clipped after only thirty seconds.
The dancing is especially fragmented.
Mainly, the movie uses the festival as a
means by which to explore the philosophy
of tango and those who love it: dancers,
singers, instrumentalists, composers, artists,
and poets. Viewers who watch this docu-
mentary only for the dancing may be
disappointed at the collage approach. The
musicthough it, too, has full and partial
performancesis given a little more on-
screen time. Depending on what youre
looking for, Abrazos: Tango en Buenos Aires is
either a choppy mishmash or a rich sam-
pler of the festival.
Michael Ashenfelder
Library of Congress
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copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listsery without the copyright holder's express
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