Café 852 is one of Hong Kong’s finest world music ensembles and the only musical group in Asia performing Argentinian Tango, Milonga, Eastern European gypsy and gypsy jazz music. Formed in late 2016, the ensemble has been performing regularly in concert halls, festivals, performing arts spaces and music clubs in Hong Kong and has developed a strong following of music fans and aficionados of world music.
A Café 852 performance takes the audience on a musical trip around the world, from the birthplace of tango, Buenos Aires, Argentina, to gypsy camps in Serbia, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia, to smoky cafés in 1920’s Paris, France, where gypsy jazz was first born. The ensemble’s performances are engaging, picturesque, entertaining and educational. The band often performs with live dancers, creating a full experience of sight and sound for the delight of the senses.
Café 852 has performed to large and small live audiences around Hong Kong, consistently entertaining and engaging audiences at venues such as the Freespace Festival, Kwun Tong Performance Space, TEDx, Taste of Hong Kong and at the Hong Kong Cultural Center for an audience of thousands in collaboration with the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s Swire Denim Series. Café 852 released a full length album on January 1, 2018 entitled Camino de Tango which is available online at all major retailers.
Café 852 has also developed orchestral pops and educational programs featuring the ensemble’s core repertoire with small orchestra and dancers. With the Café 852 core ensemble, 2 pairs of dancers and chamber orchestra, these programs are a delightful, educational and entertaining offering for the crossover classical and orchestral education audiences. Please contact us for more information on this exciting project.
The Core Members of Café 852
The brilliant Ukrainian accordion virtuoso Nazar Tabachyshyn is Café 852’s featured soloist. Classically trained from a young age, Nazar is an international award winning musician with a deep understanding of both the classical and folk music traditions. From 2004 to 2008 he studied at Ternopil Music College in Ukraine. After that, he was a solo performer, conductor of folk musical instruments and accordion instructor at the Tchaikovsky National Musical Academy of Ukraine in Kiev. Nazar has won many international awards for his performances, including the 1st prize of the International Musical Contest in Erbezzo, Italy and 1st prize of the International Musical Contest in Prague, Czech Republic.
British-Indian Soujit Guitar is Café 852’s guitarist. A lifelong musician, he began playing music at a young age, perfecting his technical skills on classical guitar under the ABRSM in London. He then spent time living in Spain, studying Flamenco Guitar in Seville and Granada with the old Spanish masters as well as tracing his roots to India to study Indian classical music.
Following years of experience performing on stage and at events in Europe and Asia and lending his musical talent to different recordings of many genres, he has firmly established himself as the most versatile guitarist in the Hong Kong live music scene. In addition to his solo guitar performances, Soujit regularly collaborates with Hong Kong’s top musicians in recordings and live performances of classical, Flamenco, tango, gypsy, jazz, Latin, acoustic rock and pop music. He has also performed on Korean National TV, and was the solo musician for a production of Flamenco Carmen with the Korea Flamenco Association at the National Theatre of Korea.
Cafe 852’s bassist and trumpeter Farley Sangels’ (aka Joshua MacCluer) has enjoyed a long international performance career. This dynamic American musician has performed with many of the world’s finest artists on the greatest stages of the world on multiple instruments and many styles of music.
A highly accomplished orchestral musician, he enjoyed a 21 year orchestra career with the world’s finest orchestras, including six years performing as Principal Trumpet of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with whom he performed in the best concert halls in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. As a jazz, Latin, contemporary and New Age performer and composer, he has performed in over 25 countries and in countless halls, clubs, festivals and private performances.
The greatest strength of Farley’s musical skills is the completeness of his musicianship. Farley can perform at the highest level of orchestra performance, while also performing on many instruments in many other genres such as tango, gypsy, Latin, contemporary, jazz and World music. His musicianship transcends traditional genre description and brings a freshness, originality and meaning to music where he is featured.
Some of the many great artists with whom Joshua has shared a stage include Yo Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Wayne Shorter, Arturo Sandoval, Doc Severinsen, Liza Minelli, Placido Domingo, Jaap Van Zweden, Yuja Wang, Joe Hisaishi, Leah Salonga, Blood Sweat and Tears, Idina Menzel, Lorin Maazel, Yuri Temirkanov, Vladimir Ashkenazy and many others.
Café 852’s Associate Members
Café 852’s core trio is often expanded to include additional musicians, dancers and arrangers.
Felix Tham – Violin
Richard Bamping – Cello
Floro Serenade – Flute
Ola Milena – Voice
Typical Café 852 Performance
Below is a sample setlist of a typical full ensemble performance by Café 852. This set is optimally performed with 6 musicians and 4 dancers but can be adjusted to fit the occasion.
Minor Swing (fast gypsy jazz and tango instrumental featuring Farley Sangels on trumpet)
Tango Pour Claude (fast modern tango featuring Felix Tham on violin)
Por una Cabeza (classic tango with tango dance pair)
Kolo (gypsy folk dance from Serbia with gypsy dancers)
Oblivion (slow milonga with tango dance pair and fast funk finale with gypsy dance pair)
Xora (slow folk music from Moldova)
Cirba (gypsy dance slow to fast from Moldova with gypsy dancers)
El Choclo (classic tango with tango dance pair and featuring Richard Bamping on cello)
Czardas (gypsy showpiece featuring Felix Tham on violin)
Made in France (fast gypsy jazz waltz)
Dark Eyes (gypsy classic featuring Ola Milena on vocals)
La Cumparsita (classic tango with dancers)
Encores:
Gonoud/Bach Ave Maria (featuring Rick Bamping on cello)
Libertango (classic tango with dancers and audience participation)
For any more information on Café 852, their musical offerings, recordings or bookings please contact info@lammastudios.com