Last Tango in Paris

Product Description:

Recording information: 1972.

Astonishingly this is the first time that this seminal soundtrack has been made available on CD in this country. It is doubly welcome since the music for Italian director Benardo Bertolucci's controversial 1972 film also marked a peak in the career of Argentine jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri, who composed and performed the score. Well before tango composer Astor Piazzolla became better known in the United States, Barbieri introduced us to the modern tango--complete with bandoneon for authentic ambiance, taut and pungent strings courtesy of jazz arranger Oliver Nelson and, of course, Barbieri's own fiery, passionate tenor on top.

Actually Barbieri had re-recorded the score for small group when it came time to release the soundtrack. As a bonus, this deluxe CD edition also features the original score "cues" as heard in the film, compiled by Barbieri himself into the "Last Tango In Paris Suite." The original music featured a larger orchestra and it is fascinating to hear how efficiently Nelson had scored these small melodic fragments to serve as a kind of musical chorus within this latter-day Greek tragedy of the sexes. A must for soundtrack buffs and musical romantics of all stripes.