The shadow of Argentine composer and bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla looms large whenever new tango music is performed.

In the North American musical mind, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that tango music begins and ends with Piazzolla.

But Friday night's Mondavi Center performance by pianist Pablo Ziegler and an ensemble of standout musicians dispelled that notion.

In a 2 1/2-hour concert, the audience got Ziegler's take on Piazzolla. It's only fitting. After all, Ziegler was a Piazzolla sideman for a decade in the 1980s.

But this evening was so much more. Dubbed "Beyond Tango," the show gave a glimmer as to how far Nuevo tango has come since Piazzolla's death in 1992.

Ziegler performed several Piazzolla works but devoted a bulk of the concert to his own compositions. It was an evening where the music was approached with a classical sense. Jazzy experimental music was not part of any equation.

Where a guitar would have been employed, Ziegler subbed in a cello. And as the evening developed, the musical lineup morphed from two pianos to 12 musicians onstage, with instruments including bassoon, flute and clarinet.

The beginnings of both halves of the concert were anchored with music for two solo pianos, with Ziegler joined by the subtle musical presence of pianist Misha Dacic. The most bracing and soulful of these was Ziegler's "Maria Cuidad." The jazzy sheen of the music was infused with a sense of melancholy and longing that tints tango music.

The most striking music of the evening came whenever master bandoneonist Hector Del Curto was onstage. The bandoneon (a type of concertina) is to tango music what the guitar is to flamenco – indispensable.

On Ziegler's "La Fundición," Del Curto offered a powerful, syncopated line girded by Ziegler's lurching piano. Later, on the classic Piazzolla work "Libertango," Del Curto conveyed the urbane and earthy warmth of tango music. On the Ziegler piece "Bajo Cero," Del Curto was joined by bass and cello. Here it was as if Del Curto's fingers, as they danced across the bandoneon's buttons, were freeing up notes that had been trapped in a bygone era in Buenos Aires' back alleys.

Like all successful band- leaders, Ziegler proved savvy in his choice of musicians. Stellar musicianship was a true highlight. None were better than the allure of bassist Pedro Giraudo, cellist Jisoo Ok and the emotive playing of violinist Machiko Ozawa.

Ozawa made a bold musical statement with her hyperkinetic string attack on "Libertango." Bassist Giraudo had many stellar turns. On Ziegler's engaging "Hopscotch," Giraudo's superclear travels to the upper reaches of his bass's fretboard were simply dazzling.

A powerful statement about tango, new or otherwise, was made during a full ensemble performance of the 1936 classic "Nostalgias" by Argentine composer and pianist Juan Carlos Cobián. That work proved that Nuevo tango music owes a great debt to the past – and though sounding thoroughly classical now, "Nostalgias" was as edgy today as when it premiered.

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