Buenos Aires, Argentina has often been described as "the most European city in Latin America" (with Montevideo, Uruguay running a close second). So considering that tango originated in such a Europe-influenced city, it isn't surprising that it made its way across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe -- which has some fine tango groups. One of them is
Quadro Nuevo
, a Germany-based outfit that has been combining tango with a variety of European influences. Of course, tango had European influences to begin with, but with
, that passion for different types of European music is even more evident and even more overt. And there is certainly an abundance of European influences on
Cine Passion
, a 2000 recording that finds the group putting its spin on songs from European and American movies. Tango is combined with everything from Italian music on
"Un' Ora Sola Ti Vorrei"
(from the
Billy Wilder
movie
Avanti
) to French chanson on
"Plus Fort Que Nous"
(from the 1966 French film
Un Homme et une Femme
, aka
A Man and a Woman
) to Spanish flamenco on
Paco de Lucia
melodies that were used in the 1984 thriller
The Hit
.
acknowledge tango's pre-
Astor Piazzolla
era with their thoughtful arrangement of singer
Carlos Gardel
's theme from the 1935 movie
El Dia Que Me Quieras
-- a theme that was revived 71 years later in 2006, when
Penelope Cruz
performed the song in Spanish director
Pedro Almodovar
's
Volver
. However,
don't use a vocalist, and they don't perform
"El Dia Que Me Quieras"
in a 1930s-like fashion; their instrumental version has a strong
Piazzolla
influence (when
Gardel
died in 1935,
was only 14 and had yet to become well known). Full of surprises,
is not only excellent, it is also one of
's most essential albums. ~ Alex Henderson