The Power of a “YES”
Like many people in 2020, I spent the first few months of the pandemic trying to figure out what I was going to do. I wasn’t working in the hospital, because all surgical cases had been canceled due to the hospitals being full of COVID patients, and all my concerts had been canceled. To keep from getting depressed I threw myself at music. A few months into the pandemic, I posted this video of me playing Bach’s Fugue No.16 Book 2 WTC. I received a comment from Rodrigo Avalos stating he loved the video. I asked if he wanted to play one of the other fugues that I had arranged for two bandoneons. He responded with, “Yes, I’d love to.” A few days later I sent him the part, and a week later I received a recording from him. This started a long-distance collaboration with someone who was up for anything, and more importantly Rodrigo ALWAYS followed through. “Bach en Bandoneon” is the culmination of many “yes”. From finding a way to record a video in a church in Buenos Aires during the height of the pandemic, agreeing to the idea of a Bach album for two bandoneons, agreeing to arrange four Bach Preludes, agreeing to compose a Prelude and Fugue in the style of Bach, and then agreeing to record in a church, Rodrigo was open to any crazy idea that entered my head. Working with someone who has encouraged me since day one resulted in not just an album that I am extremely proud of, but also in fully accepting myself as a musician. For me, this album is a reminder of the importance of words, and to always surround yourself with people who are a source of inspiration.
Why Bach?
For many years I ran away from being a musician. I immigrated to the United States when I was four years old. My parents were born into poverty, and were determined to make a better life for themselves and their children. Although I began to take piano lessons when I was five years old, the idea of being a musician was never encouraged. It was understood that I was to pick a profession that was stable and lucrative. My entire life’s trajectory was focused on healthcare, and for the past 20 years I’ve taken on many roles in that arena and still do. I am proud of being a nurse anesthetist, but as much as I tried to run I would always return to music.
My view of myself began to change when I started to work with various Argentine tango musicians. They only knew me as a bandoneonist, and it was through their view of me that I began to see myself as a bandoneonist as well. Well…then my teachers started to say that I should begin to arrange and compose. I also laughed and ran away from that idea. I remember thinking, “I’m just trying to figure out how to play this crazy instrument, and now I have to learn how to compose? When will I have the time to add on a new skill?” But a seed had been planted in my head, and very slowly I began to take arrangement and composition classes with Exequiel Mantega.
People often ask me why I study with Exequiel, and it’s because he is not limited by genre. He has extensively studied classical music, jazz, tango, Argentine folklore, and excels in all of it, and because of that his music reflects the amalgamation of who he is and his experiences. I too want my music to reflect all that I am, and I thought he would be the perfect person to study with. Besides, Exequiel is the kindest, patient, and most humble person I’ve ever worked with. He is able to explain to me very advanced harmonic concepts that I barely understand, and does it without being condescending or making me feel bad. So when I told him, “Exe, I have to compose a prelude and fugue in the style of Bach but not Bach, and it will be my first composition,” he didn’t flinch. He chuckled and said go and start to analyze a bunch of Bach fugues. And then we began the compositional process…Exequiel, thank you for being part of this album. Thank you for giving me the tools to accept my new identity.
30 Days With Sol
Anyone who has traveled or lived in another country for an extended period of time knows how difficult and lonely such an experience can be. Starting in 2015, I started to travel every year (except 2020) to Buenos Aires, and in 2019 decided to stay there a full academic year to further my studies. I can’t say those trips were particularly easy. I really didn’t know anyone, and the city can be pretty chaotic. March 2017, was a particularly difficult trip, because that year I discovered I am incredibly allergic to bedbugs. I broke out in a full-body rash, and I knew I had to go to the hospital. I felt so sick that I couldn’t think straight, and didn’t even know which hospital to go to. Fortunately, I knew that I could count on Sol Orozco to help me. Sol started out as my tango dance teacher, but with everything Sol helped me through on this trip our friendship was sealed. Sol took me to the hospital and then dragged me to her house in Boedo. She made sure I took my medications, covered me COMPLETELY in antihistamine lotion, and more importantly comforted me. That house is now an oasis for me that I always turn to whenever I need to get away from the craziness of the city.
So it is completely fitting that many of the rehearsals for the Bach album took place in one of my favorite places. Rodrigo and I had marathon rehearsals in her sun-filled home while she would train upstairs with her dance partner. I would hear her singing our fugue’s motives while making lunch, which would always make me happy to hear her be happy. Sol is not her full name, which translates to sun. Her full name is Soledad, which means loneliness. But I like to think that our friendship converted our shared loneliness in Buenos Aires to laughter, love, and light. Te quiero mucho amiga.
Accepting New Identities
For many years I ran away from being a musician. I immigrated to the United States when I was four years old. My parents were born into poverty, and were determined to make a better life for themselves and their children. Although I began to take piano lessons when I was five years old, the idea of being a musician was never encouraged. It was understood that I was to pick a profession that was stable and lucrative. My entire life’s trajectory was focused on healthcare, and for the past 20 years I’ve taken on many roles in that arena and still do. I am proud of being a nurse anesthetist, but as much as I tried to run I would always return to music.
My view of myself began to change when I started to work with various Argentine tango musicians. They only knew me as a bandoneonist, and it was through their view of me that I began to see myself as a bandoneonist as well. Well…then my teachers started to say that I should begin to arrange and compose. I also laughed and ran away from that idea. I remember thinking, “I’m just trying to figure out how to play this crazy instrument, and now I have to learn how to compose? When will I have the time to add on a new skill?” But a seed had been planted in my head, and very slowly I began to take arrangement and composition classes with Exequiel Mantega.
People often ask me why I study with Exequiel, and it’s because he is not limited by genre. He has extensively studied classical music, jazz, tango, Argentine folklore, and excels in all of it, and because of that his music reflects the amalgamation of who he is and his experiences. I too want my music to reflect all that I am, and I thought he would be the perfect person to study with. Besides, Exequiel is the kindest, patient, and most humble person I’ve ever worked with. He is able to explain to me very advanced harmonic concepts that I barely understand, and does it without being condescending or making me feel bad. So when I told him, “Exe, I have to compose a prelude and fugue in the style of Bach but not Bach, and it will be my first composition,” he didn’t flinch. He chuckled and said go and start to analyze a bunch of Bach fugues. And then we began the compositional process…Exequiel, thank you for being part of this album. Thank you for giving me the tools to accept my new identity.
Ustedes Estan Locos
When musicians asked us to explain the project the most common phrase that followed was, “You guys are crazy.” At first I didn’t understand why they would think that. Bach has been recorded by thousands of artists, including bandoneonist, but it wasn’t until we started rehearsals did we realize the difficulty of sounding as one. The first issue has to do with register. If one bandoneon has a higher note and the other bandoneon has a lower note it can be quite difficult to play together, because the lower note will sound later. That’s because the lower notes have larger reeds and need more air to vibrate. Our rehearsals were long and intense, because we had to resolve these difficulties alongside how to interpret the ornaments, how to articulate, dynamics, tempos, and so forth..
The recording itself had its difficulties. Deciding to record in a church meant that we would have natural acoustics, but it meant that our playing couldn’t be isolated. So if I messed up and Rodrigo had played perfectly we couldn’t use that part. We either played it correctly or not. This added pressure made me very nervous, and it didn’t help that the first day our technicians showed up an hour and a half late. We recorded four Bach preludes and four fugues in four hours. The whole time I couldn’t tell if we had gotten everything. So during the week before the second recording, Rodrigo and I went over all our tracks, measure by measure, to see if we needed to re-record anything. It was during one of those days I looked at Rodri and said, “We ARE crazy.”
Nothing about this project has been easy, from the arrangements, to the compositions, the recording, editing, mixing, etc. However, the one thing that has always been easy is working with Rodrigo. For the past two years, we’ve been in constant contact regarding this album, and that month in Buenos Aires we spent everyday together. Rodrigo said in the beginning of that month that by the end of it we would either hate each other or become best friends. I think we’ve become family.