Biography

Last Tango is, according to the members of the multi-lingual Esperanto, musically what they had attempted-but failed-to accomplish on all the other albums. Last Tango is, to the group itself, the essence of Esperanto. The group attributes a large part of the project's success to producer Robin Geoffrey Cable. "He has become one of the band; he feels the same as us. He is happy when we are happy, excited when we are excited, and scared when we are scared. And his personality is such that he wants to produce sounds. He heard us, and was instantly interested in making the best of us sound-wise. Everybody has the utmost respect for him." An understanding producer is particularly important with a line-up as complicated as Esperanto's. "We have all got such different ideas, and he was able to sort them out and put them all together. He managed to capture the whole concept. And Robin is alos an amazing engineer."

Esperanto, although very much a collective creative unit, owes its conception and evolution to Raymond Vincent. It was he who developed the original "rock orchestra" concept for the band; he's very much the group's mentor, and its main arranger as well. A child violin prodigy, Vincent has been, in the past, both principal violinist of the Belgian Symphony Orchestra and leader of the highly respected Wallace Collection.

Last Tango is a direct result of Vincent's inspiration. At one stage of his career, he was continually writing tango tunes. The album was recorded at the famous Chateau D'Herouville, outside Paris. There's a superstition that the chateau itself is lucky. It worked for albums by Elton John (Honky Chateau) and David Bowie (Pin-Ups). "We hope it works its magic for us!"

The most recent additions to the Esperanto line-up have been vocalists Kim Moore and Roger Meakin. They arrived at a particularly opportune time. "Roger gives us a really unusual and exciting sound, and Kim makes a very good contrast, which we need." Each member of Esperanto has an individual contribution to make. All are experienced musicins, with credits ranging from pop session-work to symphony orchestra membership. The eight musicians combine to make startlingly original music.

Line-up

RAYMOND VINCENT (Belgian; first violin)
BRUNO LIBERT (Belgian; keyboards)
GODFREY SALMON (English; second violin)
TIMOTHY KRAEMER (English; cello)
GINO MALISAN (Italian/Belgian; bass)
TONY MALISAN (Italian/Belgian; drums)
ROGER MEAKIN (English; vocals)
KIM MOORE (English; vocals)

New Music On A&M Records

ESPERANTO - LAST TANGO

For their third album on A&M, Britain's first International Rock Orchestra - Esperanto - has recorded a series of original, striking musical tone poems drawing upon and consolidating a variety of musics encompassing Stockhausen-like electronics, up-tempo rock & roll, and soaring classical passages. In addition to the original material, the group gives a vigorous and original reading of the Lennon/McCartney standard "ELEANOR RIGBY."

On LAST TANGO - the 8-piece, self-contained group is heard on a variety of instruments giving credence to their musical diversity including violin, harpsicord, cello, synthesizers, drums, bass and guitars. The driving force behind ESPERANTO is Raymond Vincent, who started out as a child violin prodigy, eventually becoming first violinist with the Belgian Symphony Orchestra, and the leader of the popular Belgian rock group "The Wallace Collection." "Esperanto" for many years was the name of the first attempt at an international language whose aim it was to bring people of all nations together in mutual understanding.

Produced and Engineered By: ROBIN GEOFFREY CABLE

SP-4524 - $6.98

ESPERANTO can also be heard on A&M albums:

SP 3624 DANSE MACABRE
SP 4399 ESPERANTO ROCK ORCHESTRA

© Claude Wacker - 2001-2014