New CD 'Tango around the world' A new release of the Putumayo label, distributed in the Netherlands by Pink Records. Lovely cover art, as always. The CD contains Tango- and 'Tango influenced music'. My first impression is that it's a pity that a CD of only 11 songs, called Tango Around The World, could not stick to just Tango. It also contains bolero- and other rhythms (Earth Wheel Sky Band with 'Gipsy Tango', and Federico Aubele from Argentina (!), with 'Pena') and sometimes it's just the word 'Tango" in the text, that seems enough to make it appear on this Tango CD. The music on itself is quite nice, and there's also a few songs on it that may be played in the neotango salons where much need for a Tango rhythm isn't felt either, like 'Estrela Da Tarde' by Liana from Portugal. The finnish Tango 'Kangastus' of M.A. Numminen & Sanna Pietiäinen reminds me of the dutch Malando orchestra with accordions and gipsy style violin playing. It has the sound of the years 1930-1940.

The most exiting tango fusion track on this album may be 'Felino' by Electrocutango from Norway, known to whom is a bit into tango already. Part from Hugo Diaz, with 'Mi Buenos Aires querido' played on the mouth organ, and Electrocutango with Felino, the Argentinean singers Melingo and Juan Carlos Cáceres (in a duet with Ariel Prat) contribute with the closest thing to modern Tango, with their songs on milonga/cancombe rhythms. The news (or the 'surprise') that this CD brings, is that somehow all of these songs must have some relation with Tango. The first track of the CD is a song called 'Dimba' by Ousmane Toure (Senegal). The booklet accompanying the CD explains that the bandoneón playing in it connects this song to the Argentinean Tango. The song 'Tango Idishe' (pronounce it as 'tan-goh yid-ish-uh') by the Brazilian singer Fortuna, would be based upon tango lyrics and rhythm (well, quite rudimentary I'd say). It says: "Sing me a Tango in Yiddish". Fortuna did research about the early Jewish settlements in the South Americas (like in Recife, Brazil) and suggests there're accordion based influences in the music and dances of the area.

When the publicity about this release claims it is the best of Tango and Tango influenced songs available from around the world one may ask: the best for who? The music in itself is not bad at all, but one may be put on the wrong leg with the title of the CD. The voice of Fortuna in 'Tango Idishe' does not appeal to me much, but others may experience it different. Listen to the samples of the Putumayo website www.putumayo.com The album is distributed in the Netherlands by Pink Records, located in Drachten (The Netherlands). www.pinkrecords.nl NB! When you download the songtitels and artists from the internet library related to this CD, you may receive some names wrong, like 'Los Felinos' instead of 'Felino' and 'Pietiänen' instead of 'Pietiäinen'. Rob Nuijten Editor online Tango Agenda of the Netherlands