It takes Jew to tango
Jewish Telegraph, May 2006
MUSIC pioneer Philippe Cohen Solal was expecting a negative reaction when he first mixed tango with electronic music.
But more than one million album sales later, he has been amazed by the reaction.
Parisian Philippe is one-third of Gotan Project. In 2001, they released their debut album La Revancha Del Tango.
Second album Inspiración Espiración was released in 2004.
And this week comes the third album Lunatico (XL) which was recorded in Buenos Aires’ prestigious Studio ION.
“We really wanted to explore both tango and folkloric music from Argentina a lot further than we had before,” Philippe said. “That’s why many of the tracks are really classically tango-orientated, very traditional patterns that people like (Anibal) Troilo would use.”
Phillipe, 44, started playing the guitar at nine and was in his first band at 11.
He would perform at Parisian cafes covering songs by The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Bob Dylan.
His music was put on the backburner when he moved to Jerusalem in the 1970s.
In 1989, he discovered electric music and worked as a music supervisor for films.
He formed his own record label in 1996 ¡YA BASTA! and its first venture was Gotan Project.
“We became popular by word of mouth,” Philippe said. “People are prejudice against tango. But the music is beautiful.
“There was a lot of negative attitude from people around me, but I like a challenge.
“After the first album was released, I was surprised by the reaction. People were coming back from Argentina saying our music was being played on TV and radio.”
Philippe and his Gotan Project collaborators Swiss-born Christoph H Müller and Eduardo Makaroff visited South America to aid their research.
“The best way to hear the music is to go there,” Philippe said. “We made street recordings and had the feeling that each town had a different sound.”
Philippe also has a love of Israeli music from when he attended the French School in Jerusalem from 1976–78.
“I think I was the only punk in Jerusalem,” he said. “Maybe one day I will use Israeli music in my work, although I’m not really a fan of world music which is strange seeing that I’m doing it.
“Tango inspired me because it is amazing music. Jewish music is the same.
“I’m a huge fan of (Israeli star) Giora Fiedman and maybe one day I will collaborate with him.”
Philippe added: “Something has to inspire me. I don’t do music just for doing it. I hunt to eat, not for fun. I’m still exploring tango.”
Philippe says that as his parents were left wing, they listened to Chilean music “because the fight was there. The music takes me back to my childhood.”
He added that he had no strategy for Gotan Project.
“We thought we’d do one track,” he said. “We liked it so we did a second one. We were getting positive reactions so we recorded more and it became a successful album.
“We started it as an anti-commercial project. We didn’t think it would be successful. But we get audiences of all ages, backgrounds and cultures.”
Lunatico is named after tango hero Carlos Gardel’s champion racehorse of the 1930s.
The album features collaborations with Argentine Bandoneonist, Nini Flores, and Barcelona-based vocalist, Cristina Vilallonga.
