Getting in Tune: Musicians unite to raise money for one of their own

By Kristen Peterson

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 | 8:21 a.m.

In a practice room at Carrescia's Music House on Vegas Valley Drive, Pepe Motta hammers out the melodramatic tango waltz, "Romance de Barrio."

It's as exhilarating as it is wistful. It's poignant and beautiful. Motta knows it. He turns and smiles when finished. Oscar Carrescia, the store owner, reaches forward and places his hand on Motta's shoulder.

"That's one of my favorites," Carrescia explains. "Every time I walk in, he starts to play it."

Carrescia and Motta are friends who met by chance 10 years ago in a Los Angeles airport when Carrescia was on his way to Argentina. Musicians move in tight circles, and they knew that someday they would further their acquaintance.

Both are from Argentina Motta from Pergamino and Carrescia from Buenos Aires.

"He knew about me," Carrescia said. "He knew someone from Argentina played the violin and owned a music store. I knew about him. We met through music."

And through music they became good friends.

So when Motta, a 59-year-old renowned arranger and composer (born Jose Luis Motta), recovered last winter from a near-fatal illness, Carrescia decided to celebrate by organizing a benefit concert that features some of Las Vegas' most prized and often unnoticed musicians.

The concert, to be held Saturday at Winchester Cultural Center, will feature Colombian-born classical guitarist Ricardo Cobo; tango dancers and Uruguayan tango singer Sergio Eduardo; violinist Leah Marimo Woods, a student of Carrescias; and the Las Vegas Youth Camarata, an orchestra Carrescia formed 18 years ago.

Additionally, a classical guitar trio from the Las Vegas Classical Guitar Ensemble, directed by Glenn Cooper, will perform.

Motta, whose penetrating style can elevate your spirits one minute then break your heart the next, will close the show by performing solo and with his son, bass player Pablo Motta.

Cobo, a guitarist who performs throughout Latin American and the United States (including an appearance at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Lukes), has performed informally with Motta since moving to Las Vegas, where he teaches guitar at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

His hopes are that the concert will raise money for Motta, and in the process showcase some quality musicians.

"There are some phenomenal musicians from the old world who have their own flavor," Cobo said. "That's what Pepe is, and you don't want to lose that.

"I'll do anything for him, he's a great soul."

Such endearment is reverberated throughout the tightknit community of musicians and dancers, primarily those originally from South America.

"We all admire him as a musician and we love him because he's a great, great friend, a nice person to be around," Carrescia said. "He was very sick. We thought we were going to lose him. And now it's a miracle, not only that he's alive, but that he's performing."

Motta began playing the piano at age 5. By age 14 he was working as a professional tango musician. In 1989 he moved to from Los Angeles to Argentina to explore other musical opportunities for himself and his family.

He is an international arranger, composer, performer and producer of mostly Latin music and a member of Tango Tres, a Los Angeles trio that includes Motta, his son and Jorge "Coco" Trivisonno.

His career highlights, he says, include an arrangement he wrote for Argentine orchestra leader Horacio Salgan, and the opportunity to once direct Salgan's orchestra.

Two years ago Motta moved to Las Vegas to be near his daughter. He opened a private recording studio and teaches classical piano.

In October, Motta was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and spent three months in the hospital. When he was discharged in January, he could not walk or talk. But he had begun to play the piano again after his wife brought a small keyboard to the hospital.

"I started again," Motta said in broken English. "I started piano one more time. I play in the hospital for other patients."

Playing the piano, Motta said, was important to his recovery.

"Spiritually, what he is made of is what he puts in his music," said Hugo Latorre, a tango dancer from Argentina and performer in "Splash" who is directing the benefit concert.

"What makes Pepe so special is something you cannot write about. He has so much love in him ... He is top of the line. He is one of the last of the last Mohicans. He is the piano player, the music writer. He is one of the best.

"It's going to be an excellent show. Everybody's dedicating their performance to him."