Graduate student pushes the boundaries of traditional music genres with 'Tango Avenue'

An innovative approach to a classic genre, Jane Kozhevnikova’s jazz-tango album, “Tango Avenue,” dances into new musical territory.

“For some people, tango is just a dance with a cliché rose in the mouth. Most of my pieces are not meant to be danced to,” says the graduate student.

Inspired by Astor Piazzolla, the composer who brought tango to concert halls, Kozhevnikova’s 11 original compositions include the unique sound blend of instruments such as violin, saxophone, piano, bass and drums.

“Both tango and jazz were created as a result of mixing different music styles, so the blend of jazz and tango is a very interesting phenomenon,” says Kozhevnikova, a Fulbright Scholar who is pursuing a master’s in jazz performance after having previously earned a master’s in music composition from Western.

“Tango Avenue” is her first fully recorded album. Funded by a grant from the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, the project was nearly silenced by the crescendoing pandemic. Lockdowns forced recording cancellations in spring 2020, and the limited capacity further complicated in-studio sessions. Kozhevnikova shifted planned performances to virtual platforms, reaching audiences through livestreaming platforms.

She finally managed to get into the studio in December, with one engineer on-site and another joining via Zoom conference.

“If you told me about it a year ago, I would not believe that this is possible, but now (through technology), everything is possible!” says Kozhevnikova. She and the band—all but one are current Western students or alumni—spent seven hours straight in the studio recording eight of her compositions.

“I’m super proud of the musicians. Normally I would not do such a long session, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Despite the challenges, Kozhevnikova found a comforting prospect in the process.

“I figured that the only way to navigate the pandemic for me is to do what I am supposed to do: to write music,” Kozhevnikova says. “Also, I realized that a lot of my fellow musicians struggled because of the pandemic, so I tried to support them in any way I could. That resulted in fruitful collaborations that I am really excited about.”

“Tango Avenue” is available on Spotify, Amazon and iTunes/Apple Music. ■