Afro-Cuban Jazz Music Description

Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation.

Afro-Cuban jazz first emerged in the early 1940s with the Cuban musicians Mario Bauzá and Frank Grillo "Machito" in the band Machito and his Afro-Cubans, based in New York City. In 1947, the collaborations of bebop innovator Dizzy Gillespie with Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo brought Afro-Cuban rhythms and instruments, most notably the tumbadora and the bongo, into the East Coast jazz scene. Early combinations of jazz with Cuban music, such as Dizzy's and Pozo's "Manteca" and Charlie Parker's and Machito's "Mangó Mangüé", were commonly referred to as "Cubop", short for Cuban bebop.[1] During its first decades, the Afro-Cuban jazz movement was stronger in the United States than in Cuba itself.[2] In the early 1970s, the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna and later Irakere brought Afro- Cuban jazz into the Cuban music scene, influencing new styles such as songo.


Most Collected Afro-Cuban Jazz Music

Explore More Popular Afro-Cuban Jazz Music

Afro-Cuban Jazz Artists

Early Afro-Cuban Jazz Releases

Explore More Early Afro-Cuban Jazz Music

Afro-Cuban Jazz Music Releases by Decade

Top Submitters of Afro-Cuban Jazz Music

Most Sold Afro-Cuban Jazz Releases This Month

Explore More Trending Afro-Cuban Jazz Music