The news about Compay Segundo reminded me somehow about a great musician whose music I was fortunate enough to discover just months before his death, although not in time to see him perform live. Have you guys ever heard of Astor Piazzolla and the style he created almost single handedly, tango nuevo? He was a visionary in the field of latin jazz & tango fusion taking incredibly complex orchestrations for the ensemble and transforming them into goose-bump inducing masterpieces. The music is elegant yet raw, intense and sensual; he was a virtuosic master of his chosen instrument, the bandoneon (similar to an accordion).

His best CD (IMO) is Tango: Zero Hour which can be found here. Equally essential is Luna, a live recording, and Piazzollissmo which compiles his earlier works. This Argentinean composer was the vanguard of his genre, and he wrote his best work toward the end of his career and his life. I strongly suggest anyone interested in jazz, world folk, or classical music check him out.

his a soul capturer. his so cool, dunno how to describe his music. i really luv him!!!!! if only i can afford to pay the bill, i will buy all of his albums, sadly though so far i have only had one of em.

I have a couple of tracks of Piazzolla on world music compilations. They are both lovely compositions, but they are also very similar, using some of the same material. Is this a regular trait of his work?

Not particularly, Rev.Rock - I'm not sure of the two that you're referring to... He plays the bandoneon in most of the pieces that I've heard thus far and in that respect many are similar. His style is firmly rooted in 'new tango' which might also make everything sound alike, but he also floats into latin jazz and world folk with definite classical orchestrations. He also has a few pieces that he's recorded in different evolutionary stages (e.g. Tanguedia I,II,III and Pulsacion I-V) just as a classical composer might have variations on a theme. As a rule, however, no - they're not all alike. If you're interested in his work (not to be too redundant) I suggest Tango: Zero Hour.