Gary Lindsey Artist Services, Inc.

LEONARDO SUAREZ PAZ Director 1st Violin / Singer / Dancer The Story of Leonardo Suarez Paz It seems that Leonardo Suarez Paz had no choice but become a tango artist. As a child, he witnessed the turns of the tango history right in his house - always full of tango’s legendary creators. “Born in Buenos Aires and now a New Yorker, Suarez-Paz is tango royalty. His father, Fernando, was the violinist in the ensemble of Astor Piazzolla, the most significant figure in tango since the matinee-idol Carlos Gardel.” Leonardo grew up surrounded by the sounds and attitudes of New Tango revolution alongside its main protagonists: his father Fernando, a famous tango poet, Horacio Ferrer, and a genius composer, Astor Piazzolla, who crushed the traditions of tango by infusing the old form with the unpredictable rhythms and harmonies of jazz and classical music. Leonardo’s father went around the world as the violinist of Astor Piazzolla’s famous New Tango Quintet. He then formed his own Quinteto in memory of Astor, which also features Leonardo’s mother, Beatriz Suarez Paz, a legendary tango singer. Like his father, Leonardo mastered the violin and toured with legendary tango orchestras around the globe for over a decade as a violin soloist with Tangox2, Julio Bocca’s Ballet Argentino, The Show of Mariano Mores, and Broadway shows Forever Tango and Tango Argentino. Like his mother, he sang tango and opera, already earning good living at the age of 8 singing in television commercials. And like his grandfather, he became an incredible tango dancer mastering the dance with Argentina’s finest, Carlos Copes. He spent many nights in the mysterious world of Buenos Aires milongas with his friends, Zotto, and showing off steps with attitude and skill with approval, if not admiration of the old-time milongueros. “With his dark good looks and impeccable manners, Suarez- Paz might himself be a screen star someday, especially given that the start of his American career could have come right out of an MGM backstage musical. “I came to America to be on ‘Forever Tango,’” he said. New York audiences were familiar with Suarez-Paz from a 1993 North American tour of the revue “Tango x 2,” where he danced and played violin.”  - 4 to Tango, Go Eerie, by John Chacona, 2004 Now, an Academician of the National Academy of Tango and its official correspondent in the United States, Leonardo works on innovative artistic projects, which cross geographical and musical borders. When Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra showed up in Buenos Aires, Leonardo brought together the best in tango and jazz in an unprecedented jam session. Throughout his intense musical career, he recorded with a bouquet of international stars enhancing the productions of Placido Domingo (“Mariachi” Capitol Records 2000), American jazz legend Stanley Jordan (“My Favorite Things” TCB Records 2002), Luis Miguel (“Amarte es un Placer,” EMI 1999), and Carlos Franzetti’s (“The Jazz Kamerata”/“Tango Bar” Chesky Records). One can hear the sound of his tango violin in motion pictures Bossa Nova, Imposters and Flawless with Robert Deniro. Last year, Leonardo went around the U.S. as Concertmaster with Classical Savion, a unique production by Savion Glover. He continues to direct his own international productions: Cuartetango and The Masters of Nuevo Tango. HOME     Cuartetango String Quartet     Cuartetango Music + Dance