"This is how the story goes: I had been playing tangos for years, but for my taste, too much in the classical style. Because that's the only way I knew to play," Argentine violist Juan Lucas Aisemberg said. His father was a friend of composer Astor Piazzolla and Juan Lucas grew up surrounded by classical tango music.

Then he met vibraphone player Oli Bott in Berlin in the 1990s, and the two decided to give tango a different twist.

Their idea: approach the genre with minimal instrumentation - piano, bass, viola and a vibraphone instead of the bandoneon. It was a way to set their music apart from Piazzolla's famous melodies. Oli Bott, 37, said his teacher, US musician Gary Burton, had worked with the Argentine composer.

"That really blocked me," Bott explained. "I considered the matter closed. If Gary Burton had played with Piazzolla, why should I even try to play the same way as Piazzolla?"

'Tango is how I live'

By 2002, Bott and Aisemberg had finally found their line-up: French-Vietnamese Tuyet Pham on the piano, Germany's Arnulf Ballhorn at the bass, Juan Lucas Aisemberg played the viola and Oli Bott the vibraphone.

All four musicians have enjoyed significant success. Tuyet Pham studied with the renowned singer Dietrich-Fischer Dieskau and plays concerts worldwide. Bassist Arnulf Ballhorn is a member of Berlin's Komische Oper. Juan Lucas Aisemberg, who also performs with the likes of renowned tango pianist and composer Gustavo Beytelmann, regularly tours international concert stages. And Oli Bott, a graduate of Boston's Berklee College in composition and vibraphone, has received numerous awards and prizes.

Though they don't want to mimic him, the ensemble's members share an appreciation for Astor Piazzolla and for "nuevo tango," the style of tango he developed.

"The combination of these endless stretches of melody accentuated at the same time by the bass or the piano, that makes it lively - that's how I live, and that's what I hear in tango, how I love it to be, " Bott said.

Custom-made

Vibratanghissimo plays rearrangements of Piazzolla's works by Aisemberg. But Oli Bott's own compositions are just as important to the group. While hints of the great Argentine sometimes flash through in Bott's work, the sound represents a fusion of classical, jazz, samba and even Turkish rhythms.

Taken together, the four instruments sound like a group of good friends having a conversation. None is dominant, each instrument leaves room for the others. When he composes, Bott said he envisions his fellow-musicians and tries to create a work where they all fit in.

"It may turn out that we play something totally different in the end, but that is okay, too," Bott said, adding that his role is to provide the foundation while the others contribute aspects of their own cultures and personalities.

Tango capitals

The tangos on Vibratanghissimo's most recent album "Ciudades...Berlin" are about the bustle of the German capital: how it lives, works and parties. The vibraphone and the viola take turns trumping one another, driving toward a climax before finally coming together to relax and celebrate the "dead hour."

"Ciudades...Berlin" is the first part of a trilogy dedicated to the tango capitals Berlin, Buenos Aires and Paris.

"This was only a warm-up," Oli Bott assured fans. "Now, we're really ready to get started."

Author: Camilla Hildebrandt / db