The Debut of Les Loups in Rio de Janeiro 1926

Thanks to the extensive research of Jorge Carvalho de Mello we now have solid information about the professional debut of the Les Loups duo. Les Loups was formated some time during 1924-25 in Santos, Brazil, after guitarist Gastón Bueno Lobo had discovered Oscar Alemán in that city and made him his partner in a duo set-up that would showcase the two musicians as Hawaiian styled guitarists. The name of the duo, Les Loups (- in Portuguese: Os Lobos), probably was chosen to underline that G.B. Lobo was head of the duo; in fact he became a sort of a stepfather for Alemán and is forever to be remembered as the single person, who initialized Alemán's professional career as a muscian. From previous research of Alemán's early years we have knowledge about the adventures of Les Loups in Europe as part of Harry Fleming's company from early 1929 to early 1931, but only few details about the duo's professional debut have been discovered until now. It is known that Les Loups went on tour in Brazil before arriving in Buenos Aires 1927. The duo had its professional debut in Rio de Janeiro performing as Hawaiian guitarists, but until now the exact dates and places in Rio haven't been known. However, thanks to a new article by Jorge Carvalho de Mello, "LES LOUPS NO RIO DE JANEIRO" published a couple of days ago at his blog we can now add some details about this matter.

Researching names of guitarists performing in Rio de Janeiro during 1926 by studying newspaper articles and publicity ads of the period Jorge Carvalho de Mello found mentioning of Les Loups from October that year. The duo was featured in the Cinema Theatro Central as part of a spectable with other artists on 12. October; the cinema had live-performance on stage by various entertainers after or before the screen play of films, a common arrangement of the time. Among the other artists participating in the show that day was Pablo Palitos, the Argentine comedian who later would engage Les Loups and take the duo to Buenos Aires in 1927 after a tour of Brazil. - On 15. October Les Loups is mentioned as part of a radio program transmited at Radio Club do Brasil featuring light music by Orchestra da Radio Club and the duo, labeled as 'guitarristas havayanos'. Again on the 20. October Les Loups is presented in another transmission at Radio Club do Brasil. - The last mentioning of Les Loups in Rio during October 1926 is from 26. October, again in an ad for the the Cinema Theatro Central as part of the live entertainment accompanying the films at the cinema - the duo is presented as 'celebres violonistas'.

It would certainly be interesting to learn more about the reception of the Les Loups by the Cariocan public of the time, but until further details about this issue may be discovered it is very satisfying to have solid information about the exact dates and places of the professional debut of the duo. The sources of the above mentioned details are stated at the end of Jorge Carvalho de Mello's article.

Jo