THE GUARDIAN ANGEL OF CHAMAMÉ

Chango Spasiuk was born in Apóstoles, a small village in Misiones, a rural province with an unique culture and rich traditions. Set in the frontier region bordering southern Brazil and Paraguay, its society is the product of a complex process of fusion and interaction between contrasting elements of its population: indigenous Guarani communities, Spanish missionaries and later, Eastern European immigrants arriving at the beginning of the 20th century. Among the latter were many Ukrainians, and it is this community Chango’s grandparents came from.

His early years were spent in a highly stimulating milieu: his childhood was centred around the carpenter's shop managed by Lucas, his violinist father, and Marcos, an uncle who sang. Vibrant village celebrations, idle musical evenings in red earth patios, the unrelenting subtropical climate, a landscape dominated by lush jungles and big rivers, and of yerba mate plantations - this is the world that inspires the powerful texture and even mysticism of his music. Chango works within his memory of those informal rural polkas, performed by the whole family, that were such a special feature of his childhood in Misiones.

It was out of this melting pot that chamamé emerged from, to become the most powerful folk music expression of the Argentine Northeast. It is in this style where Spasiuk achieves his greatest interpretative and creative virtuosity, taking up the legacy of well-known figures as Cocomarola, Abitbol and Montiel, among others. In his homeland ‘El Chango’ has come to be seen as the guardian angel of chamamé, the most influential champion and innovator of the “music with the deepest swing in Argentina”. In many ways his contribution to the revitalisation of this rural folk tradition can be compared to the influence Astor Piazzolla has had in the contemporary development of tango.

A fiery and sensitive virtuoso on the accordion, he displays an audacity rarely seen with musicians of this genre. From a position of absolute openness and lack of prejudice, Spasiuk produces a rich mix of sound and rhythm, of light and shadow, where both legacy and synthesis, improvisation and composition, tradition and modernity play equal roles, making his music an intense listening experience that moves beyond boundaries of style and sound.

Chango Spasiuk has released six solo albums in Argentina, among which the many-awarded ‘Polcas de mi Tierra’ (1999). With his first international release ‘Tarefero de mis Pagos’ (Piranha 2004) winning him a BBC Award for World Music (Newcomer 2005) as well as a Latin Grammy nomination in 2006, Chango is now fast building his international reputation with a steadily increasing touring schedule around Europe and beyond.
Definitely a name to watch!