Les Collegues Pasha

You never know what the quirky Swiss label RecRec is up to at any given point in time. Case in point is the Swiss duo Les Collegues Pasha. Made up of multi-instrumentalists Denis Schuler (percussion, trumpet and various found objects), along with Pierre Omer (accordion, guitar, marimba and more found objects), these two sound like they’re trying to revive traditional tango vibes. Their self-titled record works beautifully, as it hangs in the air between jazz, new music and heavy tango undertones. The mood is mostly sombre, as Omer’s accordion playing is rather wilted and moves at a slow pace. It does get silly on this record, when various percussive instruments come into play, but these moments are too far in between. This is music that would sound well in the morning, while sitting in a café in a small mountainous town. I give these two musicians top marks for pulling off something that not too many would dare to attempt with a straight face — they whole-heartedly put their ambitions ahead of commercial factors. (Unless you think that there is a huge audience for tango-jazz records?) They have enough daring ideas on this hour-long recording to keep the listener interested for the entire length. Les Collegues Pasha gives us a lesson in tango at half the speed.