Musicians in Transit

In Musicians in Transit Matthew B. Karush examines the transnational careers of seven of the most influential Argentine musicians of the twentieth century: Afro-Argentine swing guitarist Oscar Alemán, jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri, composer Lalo Schifrin, tango innovator Astor Piazzolla, balada singer Sandro, folksinger Mercedes Sosa, and rock musician Gustavo Santaolalla. As active participants in the globalized music business, these artists interacted with musicians and audiences in the United States, Europe, and Latin America and contended with genre distinctions, marketing conventions, and ethnic stereotypes. By responding creatively to these constraints, they made innovative music that provided Argentines with new ways of understanding their nation's place in the world. Eventually, these musicians produced expressions of Latin identity that reverberated beyond Argentina, including a novel form of pop ballad; an anti-imperialist, revolutionary folk genre; and a style of rock built on a pastiche of Latin American and global genres. A website with links to recordings by each musician accompanies the book.

Acknowledgments  ix

Note about Online Resources  xi

Introduction  1

1. Black in Buenos Aires: Oscar Alemán and the Transnational History of Swing  15

2. Argentines into Latins: The Jazz Histories of Lalo Schifrin and Gato Barbieri  39

3. Cosmopolitan Tango: Astor Piazzolla at Home and Abroad  70

4. The Sound of Latin America: Sandro and the Invention of Balada  108

5. Indigenous Argentina and Revolutionary Latin America: Mercedes Sosa and the Multiple Meanings of Folk Music  142

6. The Music of Globalization: Gustavo Santaollalo and the Production of Rock Latino  179

Conclusion  216

Notes  221

Bibliography  249

Index  263