TALK: From Tango Myth to Tango History, Morgan James Luker (Music, Reed College)

Event Date: 

Wednesday, April 6, 2016 - 3:30pm to 5:00pm

Event Location: 

  • Davidson Library Room 3304

Date: April 6, 2016 3:30PM

Location: Davidson Library #3304

"From Tango Myth to Tango History: Listen to the Pecourt Collection" will be presented by Morgan James Luker, Assistant Professor of Music at Reed College, at 3:30 p.m. April 6 in UCSB Library’s Special Research Collections (3rd Floor, Mountain Side).

Although tango is one of the 20th century’s most influential forms of global popular music, little effort has been made to systematically archive its historic material culture. Studies of tango history have been severely limited in their use of primary sources, contributing to broadly mythologized narratives of tango history in popular and academic discussions of the genre. This longstanding tendency stands to change significantly with the arrival of the Edouard Pecourt Collection at UCSB Library.

Luker will present material from an initial exploration of the Pecourt Collection, including several historic audio recordings, and discuss their importance for rethinking the history of tango.

 

The event is co-sponsored by the UCSB Library and the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Music (CISM).

Morgan James Luker is Assistant Professor of Music at Reed College. He is the author of The Tango Machine: Musical Culture in the Age of Expediency, which is forthcoming from the University of Chicago Press. He is also the director of Tango for Musicians at Reed College, North America’s leading tango workshop for musicians.