There are not many international musical groups in the world that operate on a permanent basis. Basically, representatives of different countries gather only for one-time projects, for example, to record an album or a song. But there are still exceptions.
One of them is the Gotan Project group. All three members of the group are from different countries. Philippe Coen Solal is French, Christoph Muller is Swiss and Eduardo Makaroff is Argentine. The team positions itself as a French trio from Paris.
Before the Gotan project
Philip Coen Solal was born in 1961. He began his musical career as a consultant. He mainly collaborated with film studios.
For example, he worked with such famous directors as Lars von Trier and Nikita Mikhalkov. Before Gotan, Solal also worked as a DJ and wrote compositions.
In 1995 fate brought him together with Christoph Müller (born 1967), who had just moved to Paris from Switzerland, where he was making electronic music.
Love for her, as well as for Latin American melodies, united both musicians. They immediately created their label Ya Basta. Records of several bands were released under this brand. All of them combined South American folk motives with electronic music.
And the acquaintance of all three musicians happened in 1999. Muller and Solal, once going into a Parisian restaurant, met guitarist and singer Eduardo Makaroff there.
At that time he was conducting the orchestra. Eduardo, who was born in 1954 in Argentina, had lived in France for several years. At home, he, by the way, did the same thing as Solal - he worked with film studios, composing music for films.
Creation of a group and revenge of tango
Almost immediately after they met, the trinity took shape in the new Gotan Project group. In fact, "gotan" is a simple permutation of the syllables in the word "tango".
It was tango that became the main direction of the musical creativity of the group. True, with a twist - the violin and gotan guitar were added to the Latin American rhythms - this is a simple rearrangement of syllables in the word tango. The new style was called "electronic tango".
According to the musicians, they decided to experiment, not knowing what would come of it. However, after working together, they came to the conclusion that the classical tango in electronic processing sounds quite good. On the contrary, music from another continent began to play with new colors if it was complemented by an electronic sound.
Already in 2000, the first recording of the band was released - the maxi-single Vuelvo Al Sur / El Capitalismo Foraneo. And a year later, a full-fledged album was presented. Its name spoke for itself - La Revancha del Tango (literally "Revenge of the Tango").
Musicians from Argentina, Denmark, as well as a Catalan singer took part in the recording of the compositions.
The revenge of tango, indeed, took place. The band's recordings quickly attracted attention. Electronic tango was met with a bang by both the public and picky music critics.
Compositions from La Revancha del Tango simultaneously became international hits. According to the general opinion, it was because of this album that interest in tango increased again in France, and throughout Europe too.
International recognition of the group
Already at the end of 2001 (in the wake of the tango revenge), the group went on a large-scale tour of Europe. However, the tour quickly became a worldwide one.
During the tour, the Gotan Project performed in many countries. The British press noted the band's first album as one of the best of the year (a little later - in a decade).
In 2006, the band delighted fans with a new full length album, Lunatico. And almost immediately she went on a long world tour.
During the tour, which lasted 1,5 years, the musicians performed at the most prestigious venues in the world. After the tour ended, CDs of live recordings were released.
And in 2010 another record Tango 3.0 was released. While working on it, the team actively experimented, trying new options.
So, during the recording, a harmonica virtuoso, a football TV commentator and a children's choir were used. Naturally, there was electronics. Admittedly, the sound has become more modern.
Solal and Eduardo's initial involvement with films was beneficial to the Gotan Project group. The group's melodies were often used as soundtracks for films and TV shows. The compositions of the team can be heard even during the Olympics, for example, in the programs of gymnasts.
Band style
The live performance of the Gotan Project is mesmerizing. The trio, paying tribute to Argentina (as the birthplace of tango), perform in dark suits and retro hats.
A special flavor is added by the projection of a video from an old Latin American movie. Stylistically consistent visualization is explained simply. From the very beginning of the group's work, video artist Prissa Lobjoy worked on it.
As the musicians themselves say, they like completely different music, ranging from rock to dub. One of the band members is generally a fan of country music. And such a variety of flavors, of course, is reflected in the work of the team.
Of course, the basis of the Gotan Project is tango, folk and electronic music, but all this is actively supplemented with other elements. This, perhaps, is the secret of the success of musicians whose compositions are listened to by people from 17 to 60 years old all over the world.
