A curious coincidence: I was enjoying a croissant egg sandwich and mug of Stumptown coffee at Linger Café, on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn — I'd stopped in to have a look at the new Roulette down the block — when the unmistakable sounds of a descending chromatic bass line filled the air, courtesy of Astor Piazzolla on the PA. I made a mental note to look for a video to post on my blog. When I got to my computer, I found an e-mail from Lev "Ljova" Zhurbin, suggesting that I post a Yo-Yo Ma video of Piazzolla's "Libertango." There are other Piazzolla pieces of the lamento type. Above is a furious live version of his "Michelangelo," live in Brazil in 1985, in which you hear both ascending and descending chromatic patterns. (At 0:30 you almost hear a quotation from the Scherzo of Dvořák's New World.) Ljova has a lovely lamento of his own: "Szeki."
