Pablo
Born in Buenos Aires, he received his music education at University of California, Santa Cruz, CalArts, and UCLA, and in the 90’s in the clubs of New York. There he led several groups like New York Buenos Aires Connection, Avantango, and New York Tango Trio, which included musicians such as the late Thomas Chapin, pianist Ethan Iverson (now of The Bad Plus), drummer Kenny Wollesen, saxophonist Donny McCaslin, and bandoneonists Raul Jaurena and Tito Castro. More recently, he has worked with artists such as Yo Yo Ma, Lalo Schifrin, Pablo Ziegler, Osvaldo Golijov, Arturo O’Farrill, Emilio Solla, Fernando Otero, and Paquito D’Rivera.
His most recent recordings are “Tango Grill” (Zoho Music 2009 – Nominated for the 53rd Grammys and the 11th Latin Grammy Awards) and and a collaboration with Cuban reedman Paquito D’Rivera, “Tango Jazz” Live at Jazz @ Lincoln Center” (Paquito Records 2010). Aslan and D’Rivera return to J@LC on November 11 and 12, 2011 to present a tribute to tango master Astor Piazzolla on the 90th anniversary of his birth. His upcomng album on Soundbrush Records is titled “Piazzolla in Brooklyn” and is a tribute to Aslan’s mentor.
“The results are beautiful, as the rules imposed on the players make their improvisations more about nuance than blowing.” **** DOWNBEAT – July 2010
“The late, great Nuevo Tango master Astor Piazzolla sidled up to the jazz aesthetic in his way, and bassist Pablo Aslan continues to carry the jazz-tango torch, as heard on this beautiful new recording.” JOSEF WOODARD – JAZZ TIMES August 2010
“The themes are clearly defined, while each improvised adventure comes complete with thrills and beauty. Recommended, Aslan’s Jazz/Tango project works wonders on the soul.” CADENCE
“You may read about merging jazz with tango, or jazzing up tango, but the real goal here is to push tango to unimagined extremes.” TOM HULL (Village Voice)
“The bassist is a towering figure in the world of modern tango ” RAUL D’GAMA SOUZA, latinjazznet.com
“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.” JAZZIZ
“Pablo will continue to define the tango idiom in his musically inimitable way…Pablo Aslan..The right man….In the right way…At the right time for tango jazz.” EJAZZNEWS
“Aslan creates improvisatory alchemy with artists at home in both genres. Tango as Miles, Coltrane, Evans and Chambers might have conceived it.” GLOBAL RHYTHM
“Bassist Pablo Aslan has long been in the forefront of forging an alliance between jazz and the tango. His approach has been artful, keeping the body of the tango intact while letting jazz take the music into new pastures.” JERRY D’SOUZA – ALL ABOUT JAZZ
“Bassist Pablo Aslan has pulled it off here on this spirited recording that retains all of the charm and intrigue of Argentina with the collective spontaneity of American freedom.” ALLMUSIC.COM
“From the level of play to the artistic conception, there is nothing “standard” about this work and that is both its strength and beauty.” JAZZTIMES
“Though you might not think of tango as “improvised”, it is very much so on this splendid album and will surely be a delight to those among us who want to hear music that’s created on the fly. It takes real talent and vision to do this, especially with a musical form as recognized as is tango.” DICK METCALF