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Winnie Cheung

Tango Pianist

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La Próxima Traición — by Ben & Winnie

Buy Recording
Ben Bogart, Bandoneon
Winnie Cheung, Piano
Year of Release: 2020 Label: Tanguero Inc.
La Próxima Traición
Newest album by Ben & Winnie 2020

A Review by Pop Matters of the Title Track’s Video Premiere, April 16, 2020 (by Adriane Pontecorvo)

https://www.popmatters.com/ben-winnie-la-proxima-traicion-2645726326.html

At times, tango seems like a form rife with paradox. Born of urban poverty in 19th century South America, it is nonetheless mobile enough to be a modern-day staple in Euro-American ballroom dancing. It’s perhaps as popular in Finland as it is in Argentina and Uruguay, which contest each other in claims to tango ownership. The tango changes, of course, from place to place, era to era, shifting between disparate contexts yet always distinct in form.

For Ben Bogart and Winnie Cheung — simply known as Ben & Winnie to their audiences, who come to see the duo perform and teach at prisons, schools, hospitals, and assisted living facilities, among more traditional venues — there’s nothing contradictory about it. Such range, that capacity for creation and change, is what makes tango so vital.

With the title track from their upcoming album La Próxima Traición, written for the duo by composer and Indiana University professor Aaron Travers, Ben and Winnie take tango in yet another direction, one they capture in full color with the single’s new video. As they put it, the duo “had an experience of a lifetime working with the team led by videographer Diego Tomasevic on ‘La Próxima Traición’. Dressed in our Sunday best, we played this deliciously scandalous new tango from morning till night in different birthplaces of tango.”

A whole new system is exactly what Ben and Winnie bring to the table with “La Próxima Traición” — “the next treason” in English — and brilliantly so. Recorded in Buenos Aires, Cheung’s piano work is remarkable as she moves from harsh, heavy slams of the keys to quick staccato to fluid melody, all flowing into a single, dramatic story arc. Alongside her on the bandoneón, Bogart brings fire and intrigue to the mix. She brings the gravity; he brings the movement — a perfect revolution.

Intercut in the video with footage of dancers executing sharply modern choreography are images of the musicians themselves in places that range “from the fanciest hotel to the abandoned church of a women’s shelter, to the flicking light of dusk amidst a field of yellow mustard flowers in Luján”. As they play, they take their place in a long and ever-growing line of revolutionary tango musicians, lending their distinct sensibilities to a beloved form of music. “Tango has always been a popular music,” the duo continue. “We are ecstatic to see that it is being treated that way again.”

La Próxima Traición releases on 15 May via Tanguero Records, and is available for pre-order now, with proceeds benefiting tango musicians around the world collaborating and creating while in isolation. The single “La Próxima Traición” is available for free download.

Tango with Winnie Endorsements

My personal take is that Ms. Cheung truly represents the spirit of tango and its deep message. I am originally from Argentina and I was born in the city of Buenos Aires, the cradle of tango. As a tango lover, I know that tango music represents the way people live. The rich variety of rhythms in its music represent the way we walk and the melodies and phrasing represents the way we talk with our own accent. As far as I am concerned, Ms. Cheung is Argentinean and one of the best representatives of tango in the US.

Pablo Zavattieri

Jerry M. and Lynda T. Engelhardt Professor, Purdue University
Through music, dance, and a deep passion for tango, she is able to engage each one of them, eliciting high levels of participation and engendering a love of live performance, an appreciation for music from another culture and a whole lot of fun!

Eve Cusack

Lead Teacher, Walnut Lower Elementary Classroom, Bloomington Montessori School
Her presentation was lively and fascinating, focusing on the history of the instrument and its repertoire, as well as both the physical intricacies of playing the instrument and the sonic possibilities for incorporating it into contemporary music… the material she presented was relevant to our students, both graduate and undergraduate, and thoroughly engaging as well.All of our students were enthralled with her live performance of examples on both bandoneon and piano.

Aaron Travers

Professor, Dept. of Composition, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
It was an incredible event. From a musical standpoint, she covered a wide range of tango pieces that were equally accessible to our audience of students in grades 3rd-8th. She shared historical and linguistic relevance to the music and its origins in a way that was engaging and enjoyable for all students.

Chris Bultman

Performing Arts Specialist, The Project School
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