Javier Girotto: soprano sax
Alessandro Gwis: piano
Marco Siniscalco: bass
Francesco de Rubeis: drums and percussion
For 30 years, Aires Tango has been one of the leading groups in the Italian music scene. The band was formed in 1994 by Argentine saxophonist and composer Javier Girotto, who drew inspiration from his own musical roots and fused them with the expressive elements typical of jazz, creating a new and fertile musical terrain. With explicit reference to the music of the great Astor Piazzolla, Javier Girotto & Aires Tango have developed a vast repertoire of original music that has evolved continuously, both creatively and through the constant renewal of their musical material. Aires Tango's music faithfully reflects the characteristics of tangueira melody and jazz improvisation. The result is a sort of treated Tango, with distinctly Latin characteristics in its melodies and rhythms, but less bound by the conventions of traditional Tango, making it fertile ground for jazz-inspired improvisation. In this way, Aires Tango has achieved music of remarkable expressive freedom and great charm, where echoes of the past blend with the demands of the most modern musical language.
Javier Girotto, who graduated cum magna laude in Professional Music from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, boasts an impressive number of prestigious collaborations, including with Daniele Di Bonaventura, Luciano Biondini, Roberto Gatto, Gianluca Petrella, Rita Marcotulli, Enrico Rava, Fabrizio Bosso, Paolo Fresu, Gianni Coscia, Furio Di Castri, Tony Scott, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Anouar Brahem, Gianluigi Trovesi, Antonello Salis, Paul McCandless, Peppe Servillo, Miroslav Vitous, Alexander Balanescu, Anouar Brahem, Mercedes Sosa, Dado Moroni, Stefano Bollani, Maria Pia de Vito, Bebo Ferra, and many others. Aires Tango, in addition to Girotto, is composed of musicians with extraordinary résumés: Alessandro Gwis on piano, Marco Siniscalco on electric bass, and Francesco de Rubeis (who replaced Michele Rabbia a few years ago) on drums and percussion. Since 1994, Aires Tango has released 12 albums and collaborated with great musicians such as Ralph Towner, Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Antonello Salis, and Peppe Servillo, performing live in hundreds of concerts in Italy and Europe. A unique group in its genre, they consider Astor Piazzolla a reference artist.
In 1995, Aires Tango performed the soundtrack for the theater show "I Testimoni" (with Gianmarco Tognazzi and Alessandro Gassman) and the film "Banditi" (by Mignucci with Ben Gazzara and Lumi Cavazos). In 1996, their first album, "Malvinas," was released. At the end of 1997, their second CD, titled "Madres," was released, featuring a string quartet and accordionist Antonello Salis. From 1998 onwards, Aires Tango participated in numerous music festivals across Italy, including Rumori Mediterranei in Roccella Ionica, Nuoro Jazz Festival, and Fano Jazz, where they shared the stage with Astor Piazzolla's group—Gary Burton; they also began a series of live collaborations with various soloists, including Paolo Fresu, Enrico Rava, Gianni Coscia, Antonello Salis, and Peppe Servillo. Released in spring 1999, their third album "Poemas" is dedicated to the great contemporary Latin American literature. Their fourth CD, "Cronologia del ‘900," was released in 2000, co-produced with the record label of the newspaper Il Manifesto. Their fifth CD, "Origenes," was released in 2001, co-produced with Il Manifesto. The sixth CD, "En Vivo," from 2002, was recorded during three live concerts. Their seventh CD, "Aniversario," from 2002, was recorded in Sofia (Bulgaria) with the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, with arrangements and direction by Paolo Silvestri. Two years later, Javier Girotto and Aires Tango released their eighth project: born from the meeting of the Argentine leader with photographer Giancarlo Ceraudo, the idea of musically commenting on the splendid images resulting from a photographic reportage emerged. Girotto’s melodies, performed masterfully by the four members of the group, remain unchanged. The rhythms and the timbre of their music transport us on this ideal journey to Argentina, with improvisations that make this ensemble truly special in embracing such diverse contexts, managing to fuse them into a kaleidoscopic whirlwind of emotions. In 2006, "Trentamila Cuori" was released, an album that aims to be a memory, a denunciation, and a commemoration. It was released on the 30th anniversary of the Argentine military coup, during which 30,000 people disappeared into thin air; intellectuals, but also workers, students... all that vast progressive humanity that was evolving at that time. Girotto was eleven years old at the time, but that period of his life stayed with him in his soul. The same soul that, in the thirteen tracks of the album, transmits all its evocative power: the terror evoked by the military, but also the anger and determination of the mothers of Plaza de Mayo, and the cry of "Nunca más!" [Never again!]. A strongly political accusation, an extraordinary album, marking the return, after four years, of an Aires Tango album with Il Manifesto Cd. Javier Girotto & Aires Tango return to FolkClub for the fourth time after a 16-year absence to present their brand-new tenth album, released in June 2024 by Parco della Musica Records: "30." An album born from the desire to celebrate a very important milestone: 30 years of Aires Tango, three decades spent making great music together, sharing almost a thousand stages in festivals and events around the world, traveling, meeting people, and living many intense moments. The titles of the compositions in this album are dedicated to the most significant places and moments in the history of Aires Tango. A project that originated during the pandemic period, in some way, also celebrates the return to normalcy and the resumption of Aires Tango's artistic journey.
