Avantango Records was founded in 2016 by Argentine-born musician and producer Pablo Aslan, who is recognized internationally as one of the leading figures in contemporary tango. About Pablo Aslan:
As an artist, Aslan’s latest CD release, Contrabajo (2018) features him as a bass soloist accompanied by a string quartet in an eclectic and personal mix of Latin American music. His discography includes Piazzolla in Brooklyn (2011), and Tango Grill (2009). The latter earned him nominations for a Latin Grammy and a Grammy awards. Aslan performs as leader of his own ensembles, Avantango and Mash-ish, and with a variety of artists and ensembles. Jazziz magazine proclaimed “We’re in a golden age of jazz-tango fusion, and bassist Pablo Aslan is one of the main reasons. His pulsing lines are the heartbeat of a new music.”
As a producer, he has worked in more than two dozen albums, including the 2007 Latin Grammy Winner Te Amo Tango by Uruguayan bandoneonist Raul Jaurena. Jaurena and Aslan forged a musical partnership in 1990 and performed and recorded on several CD and stages around the world including the Tango Summits in Granada (Spain) and Montevideo (Uruguay). Aslan’s Tango Jazz ensemble Avantango has performed at a variety of stages, including The Knitting Factory, Town Hall, and the Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival. In the last few years, Aslan worked on albums with Frank London’s Glass House Orchestra, pianist Brian Marsella, and composer Emilio Solla’s Tango Jazz Orchestra. He was Music Director of Paquito D’Rivera’s Tango Jazz Ensemble, recording a CD and performing in the US and Europe. He performs regularly in the Tango and Jazz Festivals in his native Buenos Aires. In 2016, he founded Avantango Records, a label dedicated to tango music that received its first Latin Grammy award for Emilio Solla and The Tango Jazz Orchestra’s “Puertos” in 2019. In 2021 the label received a Latin Grammy for Best Tango Album for “Tinto Tango Plays Piazzolla” by the Los Angeles based quintet Tinto Tango led by bandoneonist Mariano Dugatkin. Aslan has worked with many world-class artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Shakira, Lalo Schifrin, Denyce Graves, Arturo O’Farrill, Paquito D’Rivera, Osvaldo Golijov, Pablo Ziegler, David Krakauer, the New World Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He is an active researcher and educator, and has produced programs for Lincoln Center Institute, Carnegie Hall, and Arts Connection. He has spoken at several universities throughout the United States, including Harvard, Yale, and UCLA and was Artist-in-Residence at Emory University. He served as Artistic Director of the Reed Tango Music Institute and was Featured Artist at the Indiana University Tangueros Conference.
