The Tango Saloon is an Australian experimental

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

band from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. Their self-titled debut, a "tango-flavored album with a twist of spaghetti western", was released in 2006 by

Ipecac Recordings Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles, ex-lead singer of DUH, ex-employee of Mercury Records) and Mike Patton (Faith No M ...

, the American record label run by

Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...

and

Greg Werckman Greg Werckman (born in 1964) is a businessman and musician. He is the co-founder of Ipecac Recordings. Ipecac was launched in 1999 with Faith No More frontman Mike Patton. Patton and Werckman's friendship was cultured through a shared love of baske ...

. It was described by Greg Prato of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

(All Music Guide) as "a musical breath of fresh air in the often foul-smelling state of modern popular music". Three albums have followed, ''Transylvania'' (2008), ''Shadows & Fog'' (2012) and ''Suspicion'' (2015) featuring vocalist

Elana Stone Elana Stone is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Her debut solo album, ''In the Garden of Wild Things'', was released in 2005 on the Jazzgroove label. Its follow-up, ''Your Anniversary'', was released in 200 ...

. In June 2007, the band was seen supporting Ipecac label-mates

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

on the East-coast leg of their Australian tour. Other notable performances include support for

Mondo Cane ''Mondo Cane'' (literally "Doggish World" or "Dog's World", a mild Italian profanity) is a 1962 Italian mondo documentary film and directed by the trio of Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara, and Franco E. Prosperi, with narration by Stefano Si ...

at Sydney Festival 2012, and for

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wait ...

in 2015 (with The Mango Balloon).

Band members

The Tango Saloon's lineup includes a number of notable musicians, including drummer

Danny Heifetz Danny Heifetz (born 1964 in New York City) is an American musician who is perhaps best known for being the drummer for American experimental rock group, Mr. Bungle from 1989, until their disbandment in 2000. Heifetz also plays trumpet, guitar, ...

from

Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle is an American experimental rock band formed in Eureka, California in 1985. Having gone through many incarnations throughout their career, the band is best known for music created during their most experimental era. During this time, ...

and

Secret Chiefs 3 Secret Chiefs 3 (or SC3) is an American avant-garde group led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance (of Mr. Bungle and formerly, Faith No More). Their studio recordings and tours have featured different lineups, as the group performs a wide range ...

. Bandleader Julian Curwin plays on occasion in

Monsieur Camembert Monsieur Camembert is a five-piece Gypsy fusion band formed in Sydney, Australia in 1997. They have won three ARIA Music Awards for Best World Music Album in ARIA Music Awards of 2002, 2002 for ''Live on Stage (Monsieur Camembert album), Live on ...

, along with accordionist Marcello Maio and double bassist Mark Harris. Band members' other projects include Darth Vegas,

Hermitude Hermitude is an Australian electronic- hip hop duo, originating from the Blue Mountains, New South Wales. Biography Early years and ''Explanetary'' Multi-instrumentalists, Luke Dubber (a.k.a. Luke Dubs) and Angus Stuart (a.k.a. El Gusto), ha ...

, Marsala and The Fantastic Terrific Munkle. ''Transylvania'' also features a guest vocal from

on the track ''Dracula Cha Cha''. The list of members: Live band: * Julian Curwin – guitar, keyboards * Marcello Maio – accordion, keyboards * Sam Golding – tuba, trumpet * John Hibbard – trombone * Mark Harris – double bass *

– drums, percussion * Jess Ciampa – percussion *

– vocals Other musicians/guests: * Shenton Gregory – violin, viola * Christian Watson – alto & baritone sax * Leonie Cohen – piano * Svetlana Bunic – accordion *

Alon Ilsar Alon Ilsar is a composer, producer, drummer, instrument designer and electronic percussionist. Based in Sydney, Australia for the greater portion of his musical career, Alon is most well known for performing in Company B's award winning musi ...

– drums, electronics * Luke Dubber – keyboards * Martin Kay – clarinets * Reuben Derrick – tenor sax * Kory Horwood – double bass *

Jane Sheldon Jane Sheldon is a Sydney-born Australian soprano, largely based in New York City. She was nominated for the 2013 ARIA Award for ARIA Award for Best Classical Album, Best Classical Album for the album ''North + South'' which was recorded with Genev ...

– vocals *

Brian Campeau Brian Campeau (born 1980) is a Canadian musician, based in Melbourne, Australia. Early life Brian Campeau is originally from Ottawa, Canada. He graduated from Guelph University in 1999. He moved to Sydney, Australia in 2002. He now lives in Mel ...

– vocals *

Ilan Kidron Ilan Kidron (born 22 April 1976), also known as iKid, is a Sydney-based singer songwriter with over one billion combined streams, best known as the lead singer for Australia's multi-platinum selling dance music act The Potbelleez. As a writer ...

– vocals *

– vocals

Other activities

In 2010, band leader Julian Curwin developed a stripped-back chamber version of The Tango Saloon, named The Mango Balloon, with a lighter sound adding lounge, exotica and continental jazz to the larger band’s tango/western blend. Aside from six members from The Tango Saloon, the recordings also feature special guests, bringing their own distinct flavour to the music - ''The Mango Balloon: Volume 1'' (2010) with Eddie Bronson, ''Volume 2'' (2012) with

, ''Volume 3'' (2014) with Shenton Gregory, and ''Volume 4'' (2017) with Matt McMahon. He also released ''Crossing'' (2018) with

, and ''Midnight Lullaby'' (2020) with

Stu Hunter Stu Hunter is an Australian musician and record producer. His album ''The Migration'' was nominated for 2016 ARIA Award for Best Jazz Album. Discography Albums Awards and nominations AIR Awards The Australian Independent Record Awards (comm ...

Lloyd Swanton Lloyd Stuart Swanton (born 14 August 1960) is an Australian jazz double bassist, bass guitarist, and composer. Swanton was a member of Dynamic Hepnotics in 1986McFarlan'Dynamic Hepnotics'entry. Retrieved 21 February 2010. and co-founded jazz ...

and Jess Ciampa.

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

The Tango Saloon official website

Romero Records

The Tango Saloon at Ipecac Recordings

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tango Saloon, The New South Wales musical groups Tango musicians Tango music groups Ipecac Recordings artists