Portland's resident tango king Alex Krebs presents a new album of tango-jazz-rock fusion on white vinyl with a new group called "What the Tango?!"

"What The Tango?!", co-led by Alex Krebs and jazz pianist and composer Andrew Oliver, was born out of their long running exploration of creating new music for tango dancing. Initially this led to an album of traditional-styled acoustic compositions released in 2011, "Looking Ahead on the Shoulders of the Past."

Alex and Andrew's further brainstorming (documented in the 16-page comic book which accompanies the album) led to this new project and album, which has been in the works for over a year. Fusing traditional Argentine tango stylings and instrumentation with elements of jazz, rock, flamenco and hip hop, the album features Krebs on bandoneón, the traditional tango accordion, Oliver on piano, Oregon Symphony violinist Erin Furbee and bassist Jeff Johnson, Trio Subtonic's rhythm section team of Bill Athens on bass and Jesse Brooke on drums, Bay-Area saxophonist and scholar Hafez Modirzadeh, Albuequerque-based and internationally renowned flamenco vocalist Vicente Griego and Portland singer Megan Yvonne, who also penned the lyrics to the songs.

The music is designed to be a fresh alternative to the typical tango hits of the 40's and 50's which are commonly played for dancing. The melodic styles, rapid contrasts between dynamic levels and textures parallel the best elements of classic tango dance music while updating the sound palate for contemporary ears. In that spirit, the B side of the vinyl also features dubstep remixes of three of the tracks on the A side. A new music video featuring one of the remixes and dancer PopNTodd from Seattle is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lodNdRGQbhE

Alex Krebs has been dancing and teaching Argentine Tango and playing the bandoneón internationally for the past 17 years and is widely recognized as one of the foremost tango dancers and teachers in the U.S. He is regularly invited to teach internationally and operates an all-tango studio in SE Portland, Tango Berretin. Andrew Oliver has recently moved to London, England, before which he was a prominent member of Portland's music scene for the past 6 years, directing the Portland Jazz Composers' Ensemble, Bridgetown Sextet, the Kora Band and performing with numerous bands including Devin Phillips' quartet. Andrew and Alex met through Alex's gypsy brass band the Krebsic Orkestar and soon began collaborating on new ways to shake up the tango universe.
Andrew will be back from London for the release show at the Alhambra Theatre which will also feature an opening set from Pink Martini's drummer Martin Zarzar and his all-star group with Pepe Raphael and Mario Diaz. Alex Krebs will perform several tango dances with Hannah Poston and Emeh Shonjei, and DJ Tyrant will be spinning downtempo beats in between sets.

Full Details:

Friday, October 25th, 2013
doors 7:30 pm, show 8 pm
"What The Tango?!" LP Release Show
with the Martin Zarzar Group opening
plus DJ Tyrant
Alhambra Theatre
4811 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR
$15 advance / $18 at the door
advance tickets at www.alhambrapdx.com

What The Tango?!

Alex Krebs, bandoneon
Andrew Oliver, piano
Erin Furbee, Lisbeth Dreier, violins
Megan Yvonne, vocals
Momo Smitt, rapper
Jeff Johnson, bass
Jesse Brooke, drums/percussion