The London Tango Quintet in concert at St George’s Headstone
Friday 24 February 2023 – 7:30pm
A rare opportunity to catch a partnership of high-profile musicians celebrating their passion for tango in a very special venue.
The five acclaimed musicians who make up the London Tango Quintet are celebrating the recording of their first CD with a concert at Harrow’s beautiful St Georges Headstone church on Friday 24 February. The London Tango Quintet – Craig Ogden (guitar), Miloš Milivojević (accordion), David Juritz (violin), David Gordon (piano), Richard Pryce (bass) – have been wowing audiences all over the UK with their virtuosic interpretations of music by Astor Piazzolla, Horacio Salgan and other tango legends. ‘When we first got together in 2007 it was tempting to record an album straight away but, we decided it was better not to rush into the studio.’ says David Juritz, the group’s violinist. ‘Now we have lots of people asking us for a CD after concerts and it’s getting a bit embarrassing to send them home empty-handed. We’re going to we put that right so this concert will be the culmination of a really exciting project for us.’
The quintet will be playing Piazzolla’s hits, Oblivion and Libertango, as well as well-known tango classics such as La Cumparsita.
Doors open: 7.00pm
Tickets: Unreserved seating (standard ticket) £20
Tickets from: https://lt5.eventbrite.com
Wine, beer and soft drinks will be available
During the 15 years they’ve taken to cut their first disc, the members of the quintet have all been involved in numerous recording projects as individuals. Milivojević’s 2018 solo album show-cased an extraordinary command of the accordion described by the Times as ‘a hurricane of musical invention’ while Grammy-nominated guitarist, Craig Ogden, is well known to radio listeners through his numerous chart-topping albums. Composer/pianist David Gordon’s many discs have enjoyed glowing reviews on both sides of the Atlantic and as far afield as Japan, while David Juritz’s transcription of Bach’s Goldberg variations has gained over two million streams since its 2021 launch.
David Juritz, the group’s director, has brought together this exceptional quintet. “Craig, Milos and I have known each other for years. Everyone’s diaries are pretty hectic but, when we get together to play tango it’s fantastic fun, even wild at times. That’s not to say it isn’t challenging as well. To do it justice you have to approach it just as you would any other great music – with a sense of style and your total commitment, but also leaving enough room to experiment. When it happens you feel like you’ve been set free. It’s just exhilarating.”
He describes when he first personally fell in love with tango, “I vividly remember, in 1990, a new girlfriend putting on the first track of Astor Piazzolla’s Zero Hour. It was mind-blowing; a kind of kaleidoscope of conflicting emotions played with extraordinary sophistication, virtuosity and, most of all, a raw energy that I’ve never heard surpassed in any other kind of music. That was the moment tango became an obsession for me. Over 30 years later, I’ve got my own tango band and that girlfriend is now my wife. Tango doesn’t always have a sad ending!”
