In 2012, we started a regular Wednesday night performance series at the venerable Caffe Vivaldi in New York City’s Greenwich Village. This intimate venue was a place where our recording artists could present new material, revisit old material and interact with each other in different musical combinations. The timeless cafe has now become our informal home and what has transpired has been extraordinary. In 2013 we started to record these performances. Here are Soundbrush Records’ artists, anchored by pianist, composer, and Soundbrush founder Roger Davidson, captured in the immediacy of live music making.

CREDITS:

Piano, Roger Davidson

Bass, Pablo Aslan

Produced by Alexandra Aron

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered by Luis Bacque

Pasión por la Vida is an album of original tangos composed by pianist Roger Davidson, performed in a duo with Soundbrush’s Latin Grammy Award-winning Raúl Jaurena on bandoneon. This is Davidson’s third album of tangos and his first with a program entirely of his own compositions. For lovers and romantics, this collection of tangos, produced by Pablo Aslan, is an elegant example of the genre in its most basic instrumentation. This is music to enjoy intimately as well as on the dance floor. An irrefutable case for the enduring passion of the form.

The tango’s mystique lives on, attracting musicians as diverse as the two stars of this CD. Roger Davidson is a New York-based pianist and composer of orchestral and choral works, jazz, and world music. Argentine native, Pablo Aslan is a gifted bassist and director of AvanTango, a NY based modern tango ensemble. Together they have created a new collection of tangos embracing the traditional repertoire with an exuberant modern edge.

The entire collection of original songs and arrangements is an upbeat and welcome addition from the increasingly vital tango scene in New York. Here are new arrangements of traditional tangos, such as La Cumparsita, as well as tango arrangements of classics by Cole Porter and new compositions by Davidson. Guest artist, oboist Susan de Camp plays on two songs, which redefine traditional tango instrumentation. This ensemble of first class tango musicians offers up a rare pleasure in their debut album.