Corazón de Piel Afuera

Since 1964's Madrugada, Juan ‘Tata’ Cedrón, at the head of assorted line-ups, has been performing a kind of free-form River Plate folk. In much of his work, the sensibility of tango is evident (and the classic milonga guitar rhythm is all-pervasive) but it's sublimated by a kind of philosophical melancholy and by political and social concerns. If there is longing in Cedrón's lyrics and arrangements – he often performs others' songs – it is not for some lost homeland or imagined golden age of tango, but for spiritual comfort. This 26-song sequence comprises two albums on one disc. There is Corazón de Piel Afuera, a folk-oriented collection full of gentle, sad lullabies written by poet Miguel Ángel Bustos, who was ‘disappeared’ in 1976. Then there's Godino, featuring songs by iconic Buenos Aires poets such as Evaristo Carriego, Luis Alposta and Raúl González Tuñón. The mood throughout is morbid, with titles such as ‘La Señorita Muerta’ (The Dead Girl) and a pared-down performance featuring bass, viola, bandoneón (squeezebox) and Cedrón's guitar. The whole experience is rather like an intimate, barroom poetry recital. Which is profoundly and complicatedly enjoyable; in a scene full of copycats and all kinds of unthinking collusions, Juan Cedrón and his quartet continue to go it alone – and with some style.