The Jazz Gallery Presents: Pedro Giraudo

In what has become an annual tradition, bassist & composer Pedro Giraudo will bring his acclaimed tango and large jazz ensembles to The Jazz Gallery for a weekend of shows. Since moving to New York in 1996, Giraudo has released 10 albums as a leader or co-leader, including 2018's An Argentinian in New York (Zoho) with the WDR Big Band of Köln, Germany. Giraudo leads a double life in the New York jazz and tango worlds, and spoke with Jazz Speaks about his approach to working in these different musical idioms:

I don’t believe that people must only do one thing. For me as a composer, when I write in any context, it’s all my music. I actually re-arranged some pieces for WDR big band that were originally written for my Tango ensemble: I love both versions, and I feel they’re both true to who I am. I’ve done things the other way around too, with pieces I wrote for the big band that I later adapted for the Tango quartet. It’s all my music. If you hear my Tango band and the big band, the way the music is played and the instrumentation makes things sound so different, but from an aesthetic and emotional point of view, it comes from exactly the same place.

Before coming out to Giraudo's tango ensemble on Friday and big band on Saturday, check out the WDR Big Band performing Giraudo's compositions in the video below:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwo0ObMMMW4The Jazz Gallery presents Pedro Giraudo's Tango Ensembles on Friday, April 19, and his big band on Saturday, April 20, 2019. The Tango Ensembles features Mr. Giraudo on bass, Nick Danielson and Fung Chern Hwei on violin, Michael Davis on viola, Amy Kang on cello, Rodolfo Zanetti on bandoneon, and Ahmed Alom on piano. The big band features Mr. Giraudo on bass; Alejandro Aviles, Chris Hemigway, Luke Batson, Jeremy Powell, and Carl Maraghi on saxophones; Jonathan Powell, Alejandro Berti, and Josh Deutsch on trumpets; Mike Fahie and Kalia Vandever on trombones; Jess Jurkovic on piano; Franco Pinna on drums; and special guest vocalist Sofia Tosello. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. each night. $25 general admission ($10 for members), $35 reserved cabaret seating ($20 for members) for each set. Purchase tickets here.