Prof. Morgan Luker (Reed College, Portland, OR)

Thursday, August 20 at 7PM EDT (4PM PDT)

Open to all and offered free of charge. Donations are appreciated.

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Description: Argentine tango has a complicated relationship with the history and politics of race in Argentina and elsewhere. On the one hand, it undoubtedly emerged in the broader context of the African Diaspora. On the other hand, the contributions Black artists have made to tango have been largely ignored or dismissed for most of the 20th century. Recognizing this dichotomy, many contemporary artists are turning to tango to explore issues of race in Argentina in new ways, creating both original music and original ways of thinking about history. Using such recent musical works as a point of reference, this talk will explore the past and present of tango in relationship to the African Diaspora, showing how tango both reflects the realities of racial prejudice and inequality in Argentina while also providing a space to confront those realities.

Morgan Luker is an Associate Professor of Music at Reed College (Portland, OR). He holds a PhD in Ethnomusicology from Columbia University. He is the author of The Tango Machine: Musical Culture in the Age of Expediency (University of Chicago Press) and the founding director of Tango for Musicians at Reed College, a week-long intensive summer program that brings musicians from around the world to Reed College to study tango music.