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Argentine folk music

Although not as well known as the tango, chamame is an exquisite mixture of Eastern European, Native American and African influences.

Spasiuk's album of Argentine chamame music.

While it’s nice when your country is identified worldwide with a specific musical tradition, it can be awkward if you happen to be involved in another genre. For more than a century, Argentina has been home to the tango. From the bars and brothels of Buenos Aires, the craze spread across the world, with hotbeds in Berlin, Helsinki, Bucharest, Beirut and even Istanbul. In the 1970s, composer and band leader Astor Piazzolla forced the emancipation of the sensual dance music into the concert hall; since then, the tango has been a force to reckon with.

During the same period, within the province of Missiones in the far north of the country, an unusual sound with a rural flavor has been blossoming. Chamamé is a blend of the musical styles of Eastern European immigrants with those of local Native Americans and African slaves. This too has been turned into a serious art form by a virtuoso musician and composer: accordion player Chango Spasiuk. His name is as much a hybrid as his music: half Spanish, half Ukrainian. What makes Spasiuk’s chamamé remarkable is the subtlety and refinement he introduces without sacrificing the folksy character.

His compositions stand out from Piazzolla’s classical tangos. Spasiuk’s pieces are like collages, with contrasting sonic images emerging from one another in undulating movements. A dragging Afro rhythm dissolves in sonorous lines from Heleen de Jong’s cello, until pizzicato sounds from a violin pave the way for the taunting, off-beat pulsation of the master’s own accordion. Spasiuk prefers a modest role in his ensemble. One moment, we hear solemn chamber music, the next a naughty dance tune. But the mood never strays far from melancholy—something chamamé shares with the tango.

Pynandí (which in the language of the Guaraní Indians means something like “barefoot”) isn’t Spasiuk’s first album, but it’s his best yet.

Barefoot music from Argentina