The Hat with the Grin and the Chuckle

When the musician of one country tackles the music of another country, it's always not quite right. Often that results in the embarrassingly ersatz, but sometimes—as when the Beatles adapted Chuck Berry or Emmylou Harris adapted the Beatles—that "not quite right" results in something wonderfully new. That's the case when American Ben Thomas revises Argentinian tango music on this and previous albums. Playing the traditional, accordion-like bandoneon, Thomas leads a sextet through eight originals that apply modern jazz to the legacy of Astor Piazza. It helps that Thomas—like Harris and Paul McCartney—has a gift for melody. Grade: A-