The story began years ago when as a child I heard tangos played by popular European orchestras of the 1930. My parents had migrated to Australia from Poland, and had brought with them a collection of old records which included tango and klezmer That was enough to make a profound impression.

 

Although I dedicated my early musical studies to classical music, I always kept a hidden corner in my heart for these soulful melodies. Later, when Carla and I developed an interest in dancing Argentine tango, we felt it was time to explore tango music and create a live band. We began to transcribe music from our favourite CDs, listening to the great Argentinean bands of the 1930 and 40’s, and whenever friends visited Buenos Aires, they would scour the music shops for sheet music to bring home. I now have hundreds of tangos in my collection, enough to keep us going for years!

 

 

Our band, Tango Paradiso was established initially as a trio, but soon we

added a flute and second violin to form our quintet. We searched in vain for a

bandoneon player, and this may yet come about one day, but in the meantime, we have decided that the most essential ingredient to capture above all, is the energy and style of tango. Early tango ensembles in fact had a great variety of instruments, including flute, and other woodwinds, and did not always have the familiar sounds of the bandoneon. So we have substituted the bandoneon with the wonderful sound of Carla’s flute.

 

Finally we commissioned a well known Argentinean musician, Facundo Bericat, to arrange traditional tango scores specifically for our ensemble. During 2009 and 2010 Marko Deferri, the visiting virtuoso accordionist

from Slovenia, joined the band and has added an exciting authentic sound to the ensemble.

 

In 2013 we augmented the band with a lineup of Sydney musicians to allow us more freedom to perform interstate. It features the brilliant pianist

Daniel Rojas, one of the original members at the beginning of our journey.

This band has Moshlo, Carla Thackrah and Daniel Rojas as the core member of Tango Paradiso (Sydney) quintet.