The Grupo Nuevo Latin Jazz Group Spans Transatlantic Tango Commonalities

When tango started spreading from the European rioplatense settlers in Argentina and Uruguay back to Europe, this syncopated music received much attention throughout the continent. Preceding and contemporaneous with the big band era in the United States, the Golden Age of Tango was a ballroom hit everywhere and a medium for trendy social settings. Most of Europe treated tango as a "foreign phenomenon", but in the farthest Northeastern corner of Europe, Finland, this exotic gem of popular music started to bloom in a homegrown variation. All this took place in a time when the people of Finland experienced a similar turn as a nation as the region where the music originated. After World War II, when the Golden Age of Tango was nearly over, Finns continued to expand and develop their own tango culture. This is not to be confused with "imported art". Finnish tango does feature a somewhat Scandinavian ethnic treatment of the rhythm, where the most fiery elements of the Argentine version are treated calmer and perhaps even more melancholic and sentimental. Today, tango is celebrated in Finland as a part of people's culture. An annual tango festival and competition is organized in the Ostrobothnian city of Seinäjoki, and summer stages throughout the country are filled with dancers to this stronger-than-ever popular music.

Much has been said about the Finnish tango vs. Argentine tango. Here, Grupo Nuevo successfully displays common and separating features of the traditions of these geographically polarized countries. Coupled with jazz improvisation Grupo Nuevo adds a third, North American, dimension to the music. This is a group based in New York City, with two Finns, two Argentinians, and one Russian musician. Their commonality is jazz, but also a cultural backbone in tango music. The repertoire of Grupo Nuevo consists of compositions by the members – such as the light composition "Lucero" by bass player Fernando Huergo – but also semi-traditionals by famous musicians and composers from Argentina and Finland. The most significant Finnish tango composer in history, Toivo Kärki (1915-1992) is an important link to the tango culture of the north. Here, however, Grupo Nuevo proudly treats these songs with a bold attitude adding unusual and exciting jazz solos. In contrary, the excellent singer Eeppi Ursin performs all melodies without too much daring interpretation. Grupo Nuevo has a strong rhythm and relies, in addition to jazz improvisation, on a latin music background, which is a part of all members of the band. An interesting Argentinian feature is the opening track, Esa Mocita Churita, composed by the largely unknown pianist and composer, Adolfo Ábalos (1914-2008), in a march-swing rhythm. This is not tango, but something more of South American folk music. Thus, Grupo Nuevo does not limit itself to tango – the band also plays waltzes and Brazilian bossa novas.

Live at the Savoy (Blue Music Group, 2009) is a live recording from a concert hall in Helsinki, Finland, and this is a very successful one. It demonstrates the qualities of the individual musicians, in addition to the group as a whole. Related and recommended albums on the same label by these members are:
• A Lark in the Snowstorm, music by Toivo Kärki
• Suomalaisia lauluja (Finnish Songs) by Eeppi Ursin
• Caminos by flutist Yulia Musayelyan
• Songs of Finland, a beautiful compilation of Finnish music
• Argentinian Jazz in New York by guitarist Julio Santillán (not a part of Grupo Nuevo), with a large group in which Eeppi Ursin is replaced by a Spanish singer, Marta Gomez.