Against the odds, Guillermo Klein has held together Los Guachos, his multinational 11-piece big band, for almost a quarter of a century . In those years, this Argentine-born pianist and composer has moved across continents four times, and most of Los Guachos’ members have ascended to prestigious careers of their own.

But the ensemble has remained intact, allowing Mr. Klein to compile a songbook unlike any other in contemporary music: a travelogue as much as a repertoire, influenced by old and new tango, American jazz, modernism and indie rock.

Mr. Klein’s home country courses through everything he writes for Los Guachos, but he resists letting his music be pinned to a single influence or nationality. So his Sept. 27 album, “Cristal” — his sixth with Los Guachos and his 12th overall — is as explicit an engagement with Argentina as he is likely to make: Three of the disc’s nine tunes are based on pieces from the songbook of the tango star Carlos Gardel, a national hero from the early 20th century.