If Argentine composer and performer Astor Piazzolla didn't exist, the subgenre of "Nuevo Tango" — a mix of tango, classical and jazz — wouldn't, either, nor would this taster of accordion jazz. Piazzolla created a massive canon, influencing generations of bandoneon players after him, and he rejuvenated Argentina's greatest musical tradition and export.
However, it was Piazzolla's formative years in New York's Greenwich Village — soaking in the swing of the 1930s — that often informs his style, a jazzier sound he leaned to during his later years. Piazzolla personally touched the lives and music of four of the five artists featured below.
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