The Song Planner

Latin Jazz-Blues

tagStarted 1940s Afro-Cuban jazz era, with blues-jazz crossover developing through later Latin jazzPeak 1950s-1970s; continuing in modern Latin jazzLast big hit active in Latin jazz ensembles and blues-jazz fusion sets

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Blues → Jazz-Blues / Swing Blues

Latin Jazz-Blues blends blues forms and blue-note phrasing with Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, Caribbean or Latin jazz rhythm. It may keep a twelve-bar harmonic frame while replacing the shuffle with clave, mambo, bossa, montuno or samba-related motion. The style is not simply "Latin flavor" added to blues; at its best it lets two African-diasporic rhythmic systems talk to each other through improvisation.

History

Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo helped establish Afro-Cuban jazz in the 1940s, while later musicians adapted blues heads and jazz changes to Latin rhythm sections. Herbie Mann, Cal Tjader, Mongo Santamaria, Ray Barretto, Kenny Dorham, Poncho Sanchez and others made Latin-jazz grooves a regular part of jazz-blues vocabulary. Modern players continue to use blues forms as flexible containers for clave-based improvisation.

Defining artists

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Essential listening

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← Explore Blues

Sources

  • Afro-Cuban jazz histories
  • Latin jazz discographies
  • standards references
  • streaming/video checks