Vallilan Tango is a dance orchestra with roots in eastern Helsinki’s old workers’ district Vallila. Their repertoire includes traditional dance hall styles like tango, waltz, foxtrot and beguine, as well as classic Finnish folk dances like jenkka and humppa. Most of the band’s material is from the 1930’s and 1940’s, an era when orchestras were big and varied, songs were meticulously composed and arranged, and musicians had to be at the top of their game. With an acoustic lineup of violin, clarinet, trumpet, accordion, contrabass and drums, Vallilan Tango revive the classic sound of those decades. A touch of exoticism is added by the band’s vocalist, Hans Wessels, who has left his native Netherlands and moved to Finland to sing its melancholic tangos with his lovely accent.
