606 Special: Tango Night Ft. Blas Rivera

Tonight we will be featuring an evening dedicated to the musics of Jazz and Tango. Sadly we don't have enough room for Tango dancing, but making up for that we have one of the finest musicians on the international scene associated with this classic Argentinean art form, saxophonist Blas Rivera. Born in Cordoba, Argentina, Blas took up the saxophone at 16 and after studying piano, sax and composition in his native country moved to the United States to further his education. It was while living in Boston that Blas found his perfect balance of styles, a combination of his mother's love of tango and his father's love of jazz. Following his studies he moved to Brazil, where he continued to work on his unique mix of Jazz and Tango, attracting considerable praise for both his writing and performing. His major international breakthrough came when he received the Outstanding Artist award at the 1998 Montreux Jazz Festival, leading to tours throughout Europe and Latin America. These days, with 7 CD's to his name Blas resides in Spain from where he continues to perform what he calls "a perfect fusion of jazz and tango" as well as teaching music and composition. Joining Blas this evening will the equally impressive Otto Hanriot on bandoneon (best described as the Argentinean version of the concertina), David Johnson on violin and David Chew on cello. If Blas's gig here at the Club last year is anything to go by, this promises to be a very special night!

"Blas Rivera: the...Argentine Soul of Jazz" Le Republicain Lorrain; "A revelation" Sonntagsblatt; "Blas is a composer, incredible improviser, musician, teacher and performer - he regales us with stories and enthrals us with music" Eventfind