Little Things - download EPK

released December 19, 2019

Available for download on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and more!

1. Bandoneón Arrabalero - This track is a marriage between the lament bass from HIF Biber's Passacaglia and Juan Bautista Deambroggio's Bandoneon Arrabalero. A big part of why I love tango violin is that the instrument gains responsibilities for more than just melodic playing. I wanted to feature the multi-tasking capabilities of the instrument here.

​2-4. Pasalleca Porteña - Written by Amijai Shalev, my bandoneon professor in Buenos Aires, Pasalleca Porteña is a piece we workshopped together to highlight traditional tango techniques and harmonic patterns. Shalev cites Bach's D minor Chaconne as inspiration as well.

​5. Tres + Uno - The composer Julián Graciano also took the time to shoot video for this track while we were in the studio! Originally, he wrote this piece to use when guest artist's played with his tango trio, hence the title "three plus one." I was fortunate enough to play with his group and study improvisation with him while I was in Argentina. Having studied jazz himself at Berklee, he combines elements of both genres in a way that exposes a new kind of virtuosity for the violin. He arranged this work for unaccompanied violin for a solo recital I gave and encouraged me to record this album.

​6. Espejismo - Rodrigo Avalos produced the other tracks on the album and wrote this work, which for me is a textbook example of twenty-first century tango. He and I performed together often in Buenos Aires, mostly with the Orquesta Escuela de Tango de Emilio Balcarce. 

 7. El Silbador - Another of my original arrangements, El Silbador is my love song to the province of Salta. When I landed in Argentina, I realized that tango was really only representative of Buenos Aires. Outside of the capital, much of the country grew up on different shades of folclórico. Being so close to the western border of Argentina, Salta's style of folclórico carries a lot of Chilean, Bolivian, and Peruvian colors as well. El Silbador ("The Whistler") is originally a song by Cuchi Leguizamón. I used scordatura violin in this arrangement to get closer to the timbre of folk instruments like the charango.

​8. Estrellita - This arrangement is a mix between Mexican singer-songwriter Manuel Ponce's "Estrellita" and the hymn "Nearer my God to Thee." This is maybe the most nostalgic track on the album for me, as it combines a lot of the influences that made it possible for me to study in Argentina in the first place. I was also prompted to make this arrangement after playing Kreutzer's "Etude on a Chorale" which expands the violin's duties to a full SATB choir.

If you are able, please support my arranging and recording by buying the album or making a donation here!
#'s 1,5, and 6 are my original arrangements that I worked on in lessons with Julián Graciano. Rodrigo Avalos helped to edit them as well. Additional help came from a week in Salta with Sabino Figueroa and his band Saltataki.

# 2 is by Amijai Shalev, who also hosts Bandoneon TV on Youtube.

#3 is by Julián Graciano, who posts regular tips for tango guitarists on YouTube and performs internationally with his quartet.

#4 is by Rodrigo Avalos, who also produced the entire album.

#'s 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 were recorded by Fernando Richard in Estudio 0618. #4 was recorded by Alejandro Gato in Estudio Puntoar.

Major support for all this work came from the Fulbright Program.