Music / “A Night in Buenos Aires”, Phoenix Collective. At Tuggeranong Arts Centre, August 18. Reviewed by GRAHAM McDONALD

MOST of what we have seen of the Phoenix Collective this year has been in its string quartet mode, but for this concert series violinist and Phoenix artistic director Dan Russell has joined with a trio of Sydney-based musicians for a journey through the history of tango. 

Bandoneon player Maggie Ferguson, Isabella Brown on bass and pianist Francis Carreon joined Russell for a vibrant and exhilarating hour and a bit of fascinating music. 

The bandoneon is a free-reed instrument related to the button accordion or concertina, with square ends around 25 centimetres across and bellows that open out to 50 centimetres or more. 

Ferguson, founder of Sydney-based tango orchestra Tango Oz, is a highly skilled player of the bandoneon, which has been at the tonal heart of tango music for more than a century. 

Brown and Carreon have been playing with her for more than decade and have been joined by Russell for these occasional, short-concert series for the past four years. They all fit comfortably together with conversational introductions to each tune and a sense of enjoyment in their music and company.

The music itself was a brief survey of tango music, ranging from some tunes from early last century as tango culture formalised to the more modern treatments of the Nuevo Tango of Astor Piazzolla, which took tango from the dance halls to the concert stage. 

This is music based around rhythm and dynamics and this quartet rewarded on all levels. This is ensemble music and the four certainly worked as an ensemble for a most satisfying concert. If only there had just been a couple dancers around the back of the stage…

They are repeating the concert at Wesley Uniting Church tonight (August 19) at 7pm before performances in Sydney and the central coast over the weekend.