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Abrazos: Tango en Buenos Aires covers the day-by-day excitement of the Fifth Annual Festival Inter - nacional Buenos Aires tango festival. The camera follows the dancers and musicians as they arrive from around the world and prepare for the show. A Journey Through the Blues: The Son Seals Story tells his story in a simple and direct manner.
Abrazos: Tango en Buenos Aires covers the day-by-day excitement of the Fifth Annual Festival Inter - nacional Buenos Aires tango festival. The camera follows the dancers and musicians as they arrive from around the world and prepare for the show. A Journey Through the Blues: The Son Seals Story tells his story in a simple and direct manner.
Abrazos: Tango en Buenos Aires covers the day-by-day excitement of the Fifth Annual Festival Inter - nacional Buenos Aires tango festival. The camera follows the dancers and musicians as they arrive from around the world and prepare for the show. A Journey Through the Blues: The Son Seals Story tells his story in a simple and direct manner.
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 Copyright of Notes is the property of Music Library Association Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listsery without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. Copyright of Notes is thc property of usic Library Associ ion Incand its contcnt may not bc copicd or cmailcd to multipic sitcs or postcd to a Iistscrv without thc copyright holdcr's cxprcss writtcn permission. Howcvcr, uscrs may print, downlo or cmail articicsr individual usc. Copyright of Notes is the property of Music Library Association Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listsery without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.