Humor vestido de negro: Raíces y referencias afro en la obra de Les Luthiers

Humor vestido de negro: Raíces y referencias afro en la obra de Les Luthiers

After almost six decades of prolific artistic work, it is appropriate to affirm that the production of Les Luthiers constitutes a convenient starting point for approaching Latin American culture in general and Argentine culture in particular. In this essay, I propose to approach three of the works of this particular group, to trace the references to black culture present in them. I intend to explore the Afro-roots that have been repeatedly overlooked, forgotten, and even denied in Argentine art, and that could reappear in the work of Les Luthiers, ironically reminding us of their profound influence on Argentine cultural production.

The works to be examined are "Cartas de color (Comedia musical)", first performed in 1979 as part of the recital Hacen muchas gracias de nada; "Cantata del adelantado Don Rodrigo Díaz de Carreras, de sus hazañas en tierras de Indias, de los singulares acontecimientos en que se vio envuelto y de cómo se desenvolvió (Cantata)", premiered in 1979 in the recital Mastropiero que nunca and "¿Quién mató a Tom McCoffee? (Música en serie), premiered in 1998 as part of the recital Bromato de armonio. Although these three works will form the main corpus of this essay, they will not be the only ones to be examined. The extensive production of Les Luthiers makes it necessary to refer to a large number of their compositions, whether for reasons of musical genre, for the parodic introductions to the works, usually by Marcos Mundstock, for the direct meaning of the lyrics of their songs, or the irony contained in their sung or acted statements.