Vibratanghissimo: "Astor" Label: AO-NRW, Distributer: NRW Tango meets Jazz - music 
by Astor Piazolla and Oli Bott Juan Lucas Aisemberg Viola Oli Bott Vibraphone 
Tuyêt Pham Piano Arnulf Ballhorn Doublebass After being awarded the Studio Prize 
by the Berlin Council and our concerts at the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival 
and Kulturfeste Brandenburg, we are presenting our new programme "Astor". "Sensitive, 
poignant, fascinating... highest categorie!" TIP, Berlin "Brilliant!" Kulturradio 
"Music with an unmistakable sound - head and shoulders above the rest." Jazzpodium 
[INFO] Thanks to the innovative and fascinating instrumentation (vibraphone, viola, 
double bass and piano) and the group's own arrangements, influenced by jazz and 
improvisation, Vibratanghissimo has an exciting and distinctive sound. Oli Botts' 
creativity on the vibraphone, the Argentinian roots of viola player Juan Lucas 
Aisemberg, Arnulf Ballhorn's virtuoisty on the bass and the sensitive charm of 
pianist Tuyêt Pham completes this unique physiognomy of the ensemble. [BIOGRAPHIES] 
Juan Lucas Aisemberg was born in 1967 in Budapest as the son of an Argentinian 
family of musicians. He grew up in Italy. He studied in Rome with Lina Pettinelli, 
in Gstaad with Alberto Lysy, in Berlin with Bruno Giuranna and Robert Jeremias, 
and in Cologne with the Amadeus Quartet. He has been a viola player with the Deutsche 
Oper Berlin since 1993 and plays regularly with various chamber music ensembles. 
Juan Lucas Aisemberg is one of the founders of 'NoviTango', a group which essentially 
devotes itself to the Tango and Argentinian music. He has worked with artists 
including Richard Galliano, Maximiliano Guerra and Gustavo Beytelmann, given concert 
tours worldwide and made numerous recordings both at home and abroad. Oli Bott 
studied vibraphone and composition at Berklee College of Music in Boston with 
Gary Burton and Bob Brookmeyer. He graduated with 'summa cum laude'. He has since 
worked as a freelance musician in Berlin where he has received several scholarships 
from the Berlin Council and many commissions for compositions for his own jazz 
orchestra. Numerous concerts of his have been broadcast on radio and television. 
Oli Bott has won prizes at many international competitions, including the NDR 
Music Prize for Jazz Conductors; 1st prize at the Leipzig Improvisation Competition; 
Europe Jazz Contest and the Wayne Shorter Award, USA. Arnulf Ballhorn studied 
with Professor Zepperitz at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin where he graduated 
in 2004. He joined the Komische Oper Berlin in 2000. One of his main interests 
is contemporary music and as the bass player with "Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin", 
Arnulf Ballhorn has performed at many international festivals. His knowledge of 
jazz was furthered through private lessons with Miroslav Vitous, Renaud Garcia-Fons 
and Gary Willis. Tuyêt Pham was born in Paris to Vietnamese parents. She studied 
at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and the Ecole Normale 
de Musique de Paris with Annie d'Arco and Germaine Mounier. After graduating with 
"excellent", Tuyêt Pham moved to Berlin as a DAAD scholar where she continued 
her piano studies with Professor Klaus Hellwig. She also received tuition in Lied 
accompaniment from György Sebök, Aribert Reimann and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. 
Tuyêt Pham has performed both in Germany and abroad, predominantly in ensembles 
and frequently with members of Berlin's major orchestras. Alongside classical 
music she also plays works by Latin-American composers. [CD - REVIEWS] "The nine 
tangos sound suprisingly modern and above all different: Aisemberg and Ballhorn 
provide dark, languorous, centred sounds which Bott counters with a cool tone 
on the vibraphone surrounded by Phams warm arpeggios. Furthermore, each musician 
looks back to different musical roots - contemporary, classic, jazz - resulting 
in 'Astor' being equally modern and historically aware. A successful experiment." 
Jazzthing "Brilliant!" Kulturradio, Berlin "This CD is a must for all sound-fettishists 
who know how to appreciate exciting and distinctive music." Köllefornia-online 
"Tango is international and timeless. The Berlin quartet Vibratanghissimo demonstrates 
the creative potential hidden in this music. Oli Bott's arrangements amalgamate 
improvisatory gestures of jazz with tango's zest of life." Jazzzeitung "Piazolla's 
imaginatively arranged pieces and Bott's wonderful own compositions create jazzy-chamber 
music sounds of a very exceptional kind. Sensitive, poignant, fascinating... highest 
categorie!" TIP, Berlin "Music with an unmistakable sound - head and shoulders 
above the rest." Jazzpodium [LIVE - REVIEWS] "With Vibratanghissimo the tango 
has arrived at a new superlative. No-one plays from music, the musicians understand 
each other instinctively, sophisticately develop a theme, which is burst open 
with feeling, then returned to, quite as a matter of course. Bandoneon farewell: 
Vibratanghissimo virtuosically present four equal instruments, each one of which 
can play all the voices. The audience too, in a sold out hall, lets itself be 
entranced by these jazzy-chamber music sounds - only seldomly is an electrifying 
moment of silence ruined by misplaced clapping. The final applause is enormous." 
Der Tagesspiegel Berlin "One should really be careful with the superlative - this 
quartet already uses it in its name - can they keep to their promise? The answer 
is a categorical "yes". Tango music by Astor Piazolla, newly arranged and composed 
by Oli Bott. Wonderfully relaxing, one's head becomes free - the visitors in the 
Jazz Club on Lindener Berg seem to be holding their breath, it's so quiet at moments. 
Listening to the hushed sounds, the virtuoso solos and the creative potential 
of this fantastic, passionate quartet. The applause after the pieces is all the 
more intense." Gerrits Review, Hannover "Like no other formation in the jazz-circles 
upon the Spree, this group manages to create new faces for works by one of the 
most popular composers in Argentina." Berliner Morgenpost "Intoxicationg jazz 
meets energy-charged jazz - exceptionally delightful, the audience is enthusiastic!" 
Stormaner Tageblatt "Vibratanghissimo lets the town hall vibrate, the audience 
applauded euphorically." Markt, Bad Oldesloe "With Vibratanghissimo the tango 
reaches new heights." TIP, Berlin "With his lyrical playing, the viola player 
Juan Lucas Aisemberg interpretes my husband's music with romance and great inspriation." 
Laura Escalada Piazzolla