Biography
Tanghetto was conceived as an idea by Max Masri. Later on, Diego S. Velazquez joined in. It started out as a studio proyect, and then it evolved and started having its own identity around the year 2002. Together, they began a songwrting partnership and they both composed the songs from their debut album "Emigrante (electrotango)", inspired by the crisis that Argentina was facing at that time. The word "electrotango" was some sort of warning to traditional tango fans, implying that "this is not what you could expect from a tango group". Soon that word became the name of a whole musical scene from which Tanghetto was one of its first exponents.
"Emigrante" became an instant success in record stores in early 2004. Some months later the album was nominated to the Latin Grammy, for the "Best Intrumental Album" category. They shared the nomination with Yo-Yo-Ma, the most famous cellist and one of the most prestigious classical musicians of the world. In late 2004 Tanghetto released their follow-up album, initally conceived as a side project: Hybrid Tango. The concept of Hybrid Tango was to merge the influences of traditional tango (payada, habanera,milonga) with other styles of music (flamenco, bossa nova, electropop, hip hop). Hybrid Tango gave Tanghetto their second Latin Grammy nomination in 2005.
In 2004 they began to play in important venues of Buenos Aires like the Centro Cultural General San Martin, headlining in the Tango World Championship. In 2005 they perform in their most important concert to that date, the ND Ateneo theatre, where they shot a live DVD ("Live in Buenos Aires"). That same year they released a remix album called "Buenos Aires Remixed", featuring 12 revertioned songs from Tanghetto and two covers: "Enjoy the Silence", by Depeche Mode and "Blue Monday" by New Order. Buenos Aires Remixed reached Double Platinum status in Argentina. 2005 was the year of their very first international tours, that took them to different parts of the world (USA, England, Italy, France, Netherlands, Chile, Uruguay, etc).
In the year 2006, Tanghetto played 3 shows in London, including one in the Notting Hill Arts Club. During their stay in London, they shot a videoclip for their cover of "Blue Monday', which generated rotation on MTV Latin America. The tours continued in Germany, where they played at the mythic Mojo Club in Hamburg. Meanwhile, in Argentina, their album "Emigrante" reached double platinum status. The worldwide tango community welcomed the music of Tanghetto, and since then they played nearly all major tango festivals in the world. In mid-2007 they returned to London and played at the Islington Academy, and recorded their "BBC Sessions" at the BBC headquarters. Part of this material was later included in their album "VIVO". Tanghetto released their third album "Miedo a la Libertad" in early 2008, inspired by the book "Fear Of Fredom" by Erich Fromm. That album would receive a Gardel Music Award (Argentine's equivalent to the Grammys).
After the videos of Barrio Sur and Blue Monday generated rotation on MTV Latino, Tanghetto released a controversial video for the song "Mente Fragil" in mid-2007. The video showed a spontaneous lesbian relationship, generated after the main character meets another woman on the streets, and they start to dance some tango. She escapes from the tedious routines of her life and finds happiness with another woman through tango. In 2007 sexual orientation discrimination was still an issue in Argentina, yet it got good rotation on MTV Latin America. The tour of "El Miedo a la Libertad" took Tanghetto to a wider audience and it lasted for more than two years. It included 19 cities in Mexico (including a headlining performance for a crowd of 12,000 at the renowned Festival Cervantino), 16 in Germany, 9 in Italy, 3 in the US, 5 in the Netherlands, 5 in Brazil, and also France, Austria, Greece, Turkey, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, amongst others. By the year 2009 they released "Mas Alla Del Sur", re-exploring their tango roots with songs like "La Milonga" and "Tango Místico". Recordings during this and the "El Miedo a la Libertad" tours would eventually be released in the form of a double live album, released in two separate volumes: "VIVO" (nominated to the Gardel Awards in 2011) and "VIVO Milonguero" (winner of the Gardel Award in 2012).
In 2012 Tanghetto finishes the "Mas Alla del Sur" tour with concert dates in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Bulgaria, Netherlands and Norway. In December, "Incidental Tango" is released. It is a concept album that explores the idea of tango in all its forms being a the "soundtrack" of our lives. The "Incidental Tour 2013" included dates in Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Spain, Italy, Poland, Romania, Germany and England, where the band performed in the famous O2 Arena in london for 9000 people. "Incidental Tango" was nominated for the Gadel Awards, being this the fifth nomination in a row for Tanghetto. On march 14th 2014 the last concert of the tour took place at the ND/Teatro. Tangocrisis, Max and Diego's side project, was a special guest on a sold-out ND/Teatro. The "Incidental Tour" took the band to different festivals where they shared the stage with world-class artists such as Al Di Meola, Goran Bregović, Jan Akkerman (legendary dutch band Focus' guitar player), Inti-Illimani, Gal Costa, Los Van Van, Olodum and others.
In June 2014 "Hybrid Tango II" was released. This album synthesizes the concepts of "Hybrid Tango" (2004) and "Incidental Tango", featuring the unprejudiced hybridation of the former and the cinematic sound of the latter. It is also the first studio album in containing non-instrumental songs. "Vuelvo al Sur" features Max Masri on vocals and "Aires de Buenos Aires" and "No me rindo" are performed by uruguayan Tabaré Leyton. The "Hybrid Tango II" concert tour and some very interesting studio projects form the schedule for 2014 and 2015.
