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Milonga Loca! by Austin Wulliman

Just a few short weeks ago, we Spektrals had the amazing experience of playing with the multi-talented Julien Labro in a set of tangos by Astor Piazzolla.  From word “go” at rehearsal, it was obvious that we were dealing with a musician with an intense and vibrant energy.  We started with the languid and yearning “Asleep” from Piazzolla’s “Five Tango Sensations”.   Julien’s opening phrase seemed to stretch on and on in an unending breath inward on the bandoneon.

After that, we tackled “Fear” from the same suite, and things got interesting.  In the final moments of the fugue-like dance, the quartet was doing a whipped release from a long note.  I was playing it loose in rehearsal…apparently far too loose, since the tip of my bow snagged the far corner of my instrument and pulled part of the top of my instrument off!  After a bit of a break to deal with that dilemma, we only had more fun playing together.  The tunes fell together naturally and we had a fantastic time in performance.

Link to this blog entry and Spektral Quartet

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The Big Squeeze @ Northwestern University

  • June 25, 2012June 25, 2012
  • by julien

A once in a lifetime gathering of accordion and bandoneon virtuosos explores music from Bach and Weber to jazz, blues and Zydeco, including an all-hands-on-deck breakdown of a polka. Featured musicians include Julien Labro from France; Alexander Sevastian from Russia; Jimmy Keane from Chicago; and Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers from New Orleans. Labro was joined by Spektral String Quartet, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, and special guest Victor Goines. The Big Squeeze concert was part of the Bienen School of Music Spring Festival titled “Soundings: Celebrating Singular Voices In Music”.

Video of the concert is streamed here

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The Music of Astor Piazzolla CD, a great gift…

  • December 14, 2011December 14, 2011
  • by julien

By Mike Telin

With the holidays upon us, what better musical gift to give than a recording by local musicians! Here are some CD’s we have received in the past few months that may give you gifting ideas. CD’s previewed or reviewed by ClevelandClassical.com appear at the end.

CD previewed on ClevelandClassical.com on November 29

Everything about this album is great: the arrangements, the performances, and the recording quality. Once again Jason Vieaux proves himself to be a masterful musician – Julien Labro’s bandoneon playing would surly make Pizzolla smile – A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra are superb collaborators who easily negotiate the tricky rhythms and special tango techniques. While The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires and Histoire du Tango have become standard concert repertoire, the Double Concerto for Bandoneón, Guitar, & String Orchestra is a spectacular composition that for many reasons is not heard often enough: the performance by Vieaux and Labro is outstanding and alone worth the cost of admission. Gail Wein’s extremely well written liner notes provide valuable historical context.

See other CDs here

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New CD “Piazzolla”!!

  • October 6, 2011November 23, 2011
  • by julien

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Internationally acclaimed guitarist Jason Vieaux teams up with Bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro & A Far Cry chamber orchestra in these new arrangements of Astor Piazzolla masterpieces. Jason is well known for his Azica solo releases including J.S. Bach Vol. 1 and Images of Metheny (Jason’s arrangements of the music of Pat Metheny). Julien Labro has shown his versatility with jazz guitarist Frank Vignola on 100 Years of Django and the acclaimed jazz band Hot Club of Detroit. A Far Cry chamber orchestra, based in Boston, performs frequently in the greater Boston area as well as throughout the United States.

Listen to the MP3 excerpt from Verano Porteńo from the “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires” by Astor  Piazzolla, arr. Julien Labro

Verano Porteno (MP3 excerpt from “Piazzolla”)

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Julien interviewed on “Live and Local” by Kevin Kelly…

  • April 12, 2011April 27, 2011
  • by julien

On the Tuesday edition of “Live and Local,” I’ll be talking with the two soloists appearing on Tuesday night’s concert in Champaign by The Prairie Ensemble, guitarist Shawn Purcell and bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro. And we’ll have live performance highlights from past shows, featuring Shawn and Darden Purcell. [wpaudio url=”http://will.illinois.edu/media/mp3/45176–110412.mp3″ text=”Link to Audio” dl=”0″]

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