Libertango

Piazzolla recorded Libertango in Milan in May 1974 at Mondial Sound Studio, with Tonino Paolillo as sound engineer. Aldo Pagani, who produced it, had offered Piazzolla a contract in Rome to record anything he could write. Around Piazzolla's bandoneon were Pino Presti on bass guitar, Tullio De Piscopo on drums and percussion, Filippo Daccò on guitar, Felice Da Viá on piano and Hammond organ, Gianni Zilioli on Hammond organ and marimba, Andrea Poggi on timpani and percussion, plus strings and flutes.

The title piece, a blend of the Spanish libertad and tango, was Piazzolla's break from classical tango. Writers on his style single out Libertango and the Suite Troileana as examples of the leaner, more fluid music he made in the 1970s, drawing on more jazz and with simpler, continuous forms. De Piscopo, who also played in Gerry Mulligan's group, later said that he played Mulligan a cassette of the recording and that Mulligan wanted to work with Piazzolla at once. De Piscopo put the two in touch through Pagani, and the result was Summit.