Latin jazz
Encyclopedia
Latin jazz is the general term given to jazz
with Latin American rhythms.
The three main categories of Latin Jazz are Brazil
ian, Cuban
and Puerto Rican
:
One of the contribution of Latins
(Latinos in Spanish
) to America, Latin jazz gained popularity in the late 1940s. Arguably the first Latin-influenced jazz song is Caravan
, written by Juan Tizol
and first performed in 1936.
Dizzy Gillespie
and Stan Kenton
began to combine the rhythm section and structure of Afro-Cuban music, exemplified by Machito and His Afro-Cubans
, whose musical director Mario Bauza
created the first Latin jazz composition "Tanga" on May 31, 1943, with jazz instruments and solo improvisational ideas. "Tanga" was the first jazz composition based on the clave rhythm. Bauza developed the 3-2/2-3 clave terminology and concept, which is a staple of contemporary Latin jazz and salsa music
.
On March 31, 1946, Stan Kenton recorded "Machito", written by his collaborator / arranger Pete Rugolo
, which is considered by many to be the first Latin jazz recording by American jazz musicians. The Kenton band was augmented by Ivan Lopez on bongos and Eugenio Reyes on maracas. Later, on December 6 of the same year, Stan Kenton recorded an arrangement of the Afro-Cuban tune The Peanut Vendor
with members of Machito's rhythm section.
In September 1947, Dizzy Gillespie collaborated with Machito conga
player Chano Pozo
to perform the "Afro-Cuban Drums Suite" at Carnegie Hall
. This was the first concert to feature an American band playing Afro-Cuban jazz and Pozo remained in Gillespie's orchestra to produce "Cubana Be, Cubana Bop" among others.
, using a form of the clave
instead. The conga
, timbale
, güiro
, and claves
are percussion instrument
s which often contribute to a "Latin" sound.
originated from nineteenth century Afro-Brazilian
music such as the Lundu. It employs a modified form of the clave. Bossa Nova is a hybrid form based on the samba rhythm, but influenced by European and American music from Debussy to US jazz. Bossa Nova originated in the 1950s, largely from the efforts of Brazilians Antonio Carlos Jobim
and João Gilberto
, and American Stan Getz
. Its most famous song is arguably The Girl from Ipanema
sung by Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto
.
format made popular in the 1950s in America, where the musicians play a standard melody, many of the musicians play an improvised solo, and then everyone plays the melody again. In Latin jazz bands, percussion often takes a center stage during a solo, and a conga
or timbale
can add a melodic line to any performance.
music and its African roots while creating a new shade of jazz with a hip flavor. Steeped in the jazz tradition (having studied and performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, David Murray and Donald Byrd among others), Cepeda developed this unique artistic expression by incorporating a contemporary jazz perspective with the musical and cultural traditions of his homeland, Puerto Rico.
There are also other Puerto Rican musicians such as Papo Vazquez considered one of the pioneers of Afro Puerto Rican Jazz along with Cortijo, Edgardo Miranda, David Sanchez and others.
Please update this info it will be much appreciated.
Latin Jazz websites/blogs
Latin Jazz radio programs
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
with Latin American rhythms.
The three main categories of Latin Jazz are Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian, Cuban
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
and Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
:
- Brazilian Latin Jazz includes bossa novaBossa novaBossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
- Afro-Cuban jazzAfro-Cuban jazzAfro-Cuban jazz is an early form of Latin jazz that mixes Afro-Cuban rhythms with harmonies and musical timbre typical of Bebop. It was developed in the early 1940s by both Cuban musicians and Jazz musicians, with Dizzy Gillespie, Mario Bauza, Machito and Stan Kenton among some of the most notable...
is a fusion between Cuban musicMusic of CubaThe Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...
and American jazz - Puerto Rican jazzMusic of Puerto RicoThe music of Puerto Rico has been influenced by the Spanish, African, Taíno Indians, France, and the United States, and has become very popular across the Caribbean and across the globe...
is a concept made by William Cepeda that celebrates Puerto Rico's heritage and African roots with a new shade of jazz and hip flavor
History
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
(Latinos in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
) to America, Latin jazz gained popularity in the late 1940s. Arguably the first Latin-influenced jazz song is Caravan
Caravan (song)
"Caravan" is a jazz standard composed by Juan Tizol and first performed by Duke Ellington in 1937. Irving Mills wrote the lyrics, but he sometimes is not credited on the many instrumental versions. Its exotic sound interested exotica musicians; Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman both covered it. Woody...
, written by Juan Tizol
Juan Tizol
Juan Tizol was a Puerto Rican trombonist and composer.He was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. Music was a large part of his life from an early age. His first instrument was the violin, but he soon switched to valve trombone, the instrument he would play throughout his career...
and first performed in 1936.
Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
began to combine the rhythm section and structure of Afro-Cuban music, exemplified by Machito and His Afro-Cubans
Machito
Machito , born as Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, was an influential Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music...
, whose musical director Mario Bauza
Mario Bauza
Mario Bauzá was an important Cuban musician. He was one of the first to introduce Latin music to the United States by bringing Cuban musical styles into the New York jazz scene...
created the first Latin jazz composition "Tanga" on May 31, 1943, with jazz instruments and solo improvisational ideas. "Tanga" was the first jazz composition based on the clave rhythm. Bauza developed the 3-2/2-3 clave terminology and concept, which is a staple of contemporary Latin jazz and salsa music
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
.
On March 31, 1946, Stan Kenton recorded "Machito", written by his collaborator / arranger Pete Rugolo
Pete Rugolo
Pietro "Pete" Rugolo was an Italian-born jazz composer and arranger.-Life and career:Rugolo was born in San Piero Patti, Sicily, Italy. His family emigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Santa Rosa, California...
, which is considered by many to be the first Latin jazz recording by American jazz musicians. The Kenton band was augmented by Ivan Lopez on bongos and Eugenio Reyes on maracas. Later, on December 6 of the same year, Stan Kenton recorded an arrangement of the Afro-Cuban tune The Peanut Vendor
The Peanut Vendor
The Peanut Vendor is a Cuban song based on a street-seller's cry, and known as a pregón. It is possibly the most famous piece of music created by a Cuban musician...
with members of Machito's rhythm section.
In September 1947, Dizzy Gillespie collaborated with Machito conga
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
player Chano Pozo
Chano Pozo
Chano Pozo was a percussionist, singer, dancer and composer who played a major role in the founding of Latin jazz...
to perform the "Afro-Cuban Drums Suite" at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. This was the first concert to feature an American band playing Afro-Cuban jazz and Pozo remained in Gillespie's orchestra to produce "Cubana Be, Cubana Bop" among others.
Differences with traditional jazz
In comparison with traditional jazz, Latin jazz employs straight rhythm, rather than swung rhythm. Latin jazz rarely employs a backbeatBeat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
, using a form of the clave
Clave (rhythm)
The clave rhythmic pattern is used as a tool for temporal organization in Afro-Cuban music, such as rumba, conga de comparsa, son, son montuno, mambo, salsa, Latin jazz, songo and timba. The five-stroke clave pattern represents the structural core of many Afro-Cuban rhythms...
instead. The conga
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
, timbale
Timbales
Timbales are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing, invented in Cuba. They are shallower in shape than single-headed tom-toms, and usually much higher tuned...
, güiro
Güiro
The güiro is a Latin-American percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role...
, and claves
Claves
Claves are a percussion instrument , consisting of a pair of short Claves (Anglicized pronunciation: clah-vays, IPA:[ˈklαves]) are a percussion instrument (idiophone), consisting of a pair of short Claves (Anglicized pronunciation: clah-vays, IPA:[ˈklαves]) are a percussion instrument (idiophone),...
are percussion instrument
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
s which often contribute to a "Latin" sound.
Sub-types of Latin jazz
SambaSamba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
originated from nineteenth century Afro-Brazilian
Afro-Brazilian
In Brazil, the term "preto" is one of the five categories used by the Brazilian Census, along with "branco" , "pardo" , "amarelo" and "indígena"...
music such as the Lundu. It employs a modified form of the clave. Bossa Nova is a hybrid form based on the samba rhythm, but influenced by European and American music from Debussy to US jazz. Bossa Nova originated in the 1950s, largely from the efforts of Brazilians Antonio Carlos Jobim
Antônio Carlos Jobim
Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim , was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within...
and João Gilberto
João Gilberto
João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, known as João Gilberto , is a Brazilian singer and guitarist. His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre of Bossa nova in the late 1950s.-Biography:From an early age, music...
, and American Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
. Its most famous song is arguably The Girl from Ipanema
The Girl from Ipanema
"Garota de Ipanema" is a well-known bossa nova song, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. English lyrics were written later by Norman Gimbel.The...
sung by Gilberto and his wife, Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto
Astrud Gilberto is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She is well known for the Grammy Award-winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".-Biography:...
.
Playing style
Latin jazz music, like most types of jazz music, can be played in small or large groups. Small groups, or combos, often use the bebopBebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
format made popular in the 1950s in America, where the musicians play a standard melody, many of the musicians play an improvised solo, and then everyone plays the melody again. In Latin jazz bands, percussion often takes a center stage during a solo, and a conga
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
or timbale
Timbales
Timbales are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing, invented in Cuba. They are shallower in shape than single-headed tom-toms, and usually much higher tuned...
can add a melodic line to any performance.
Afro-Rican jazz
Afro-Rican jazz is an original concept developed by trombonist, composer/ arranger William Cepeda that celebrates the heritage of Puerto RicanPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
music and its African roots while creating a new shade of jazz with a hip flavor. Steeped in the jazz tradition (having studied and performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, David Murray and Donald Byrd among others), Cepeda developed this unique artistic expression by incorporating a contemporary jazz perspective with the musical and cultural traditions of his homeland, Puerto Rico.
There are also other Puerto Rican musicians such as Papo Vazquez considered one of the pioneers of Afro Puerto Rican Jazz along with Cortijo, Edgardo Miranda, David Sanchez and others.
Please update this info it will be much appreciated.
External links
Latin Jazz on Film/Video/DVDLatin Jazz websites/blogs
- LatinJazzClub Magazine"
- Celebrating the Masters of Latin Jazz"
- Chip Boaz' "The Latin Jazz Corner"
- Love Kiss Music Label
- Chicano roots latin jazz fusion
Latin Jazz radio programs
- Latin Jazz Online Radio
- "The Latin Jazz Show" with Chuy Varela - KCSM 91.1 FM - San Mateo, CA
- "Lunchtime @ the Oasis" with Arturo Gomez-Cruz - KUVO 89.3 FM - Denver, CO
- "Con Sabor" with Luis Medina - KPFA 94.1FM - Berekely, CA
- "Con Clave" with Chata Gutierrez - KPOO 89.5FM - San Francisco, CA
- "Canto Tropical" with Héctor "La Voz" Resendez - KPFK 90.7 FM - Los Angeles, CA
- "Latin/Jazz Mecca" with C'Tone - Ozcat Radio 89.5FM - Vallejo, CA
- "Jazz on the Latin Side" with Jose Rizo - KJAZ 88.1FM - Long Beach, CA
- "Alma Caribeña" with Lady DJ Margarita - KBBF 89.1 FM - Santa Rosa, CA
- "Ritmo Con Ache" with Nancy Rodriguez - WBAI 99.5 FM - New York City, NY
- "Al Lado Latino" with 'JC' Johnny Conga - KBCS 91.3 FM - Seattle, WA
- "Azucar y Candela" with Santa Salsera - WXDU 88.7 FM - Durham, NC
- "Latin Jazz Cruise" with Awilda Rivera - WBGO 88.3 FM - Newark, NJ
- "The Latin Jazz Beat" with Jim Benitez - WICN 90.5 FM - Worcester, MA
- "Latin Jazz Brunch" with Henry Brun - KRTU 91.7 FM - San Antonio, TX
- "Raices" with Louis Head - KUNM 89.9 - Albuquerque, NM
- "La Musica Brava" & "The Latin Quarter" - WDNA 88.9 FM - Miami, FL
- "WMNF/Latin Jazz & Salsa" with Luis "Speedy" Gonzalez - WMNF 88.5 FM - Tampa, FL
- "Latin Aura" with Tomas Algarín - WCLK 91.9 FM - Atlanta, GA
- "Latin Perspective" with Tony V - WRUW 91.1 FM - Cleveland, OH
- "Onda Suave" with Ernesto Portillo Jr. - KXCI, 91.3-FM - Tucson, AZ
- "Salsa Caliente" - KTEP 88.5 FM - El Paso, TX
- "Jazz Y Clave" with Mike Villafane - WJYC Whiting, NJ
- "El Viaje" with David Ortiz - WRTI 90.1 FM - Philadelphia, PA
- "Tiene Sabor" with Yolanda Estrada - WWOZ 90.7 FM - New Orleans, LA
- "Mambo Express" with Victor Parra - WDCB 90.9 FM - Chicago,IL
- "Tiempo Latino" with Danny VillaBlanca - WMUH 91.7 FM - Allentown, Pennsylvania
- More US and International Latin Jazz radio listings at: http://www.vinilemania.net/latinjazzradio.htm
- "Latin Soul" with David Hervás - KETR 88.9 FM - Commerce, TX