Latin Jazz

Afro-Cuban styles are based on a rhythm called the clave. Latin jazz or salsa uses this rhythm as a basis for improvisation.

A Jazz Improvisation Almanac
Unit: Jazz Styles
Chapter: Hybrids And Related Styles

Characterization of Latin Jazz
Musicians

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

Ever since the beginning, Latin American music has played a role in the development of jazz. Jelly Roll Morton used to speak of the "Spanish tinge" that gave flavor to jazz. A fusion of Afro-Cuban music with jazz is often called Latin jazz or salsa.

Characterization of Latin Jazz

Most of the traditional forms of music in Cuba and other Latin American countries were intended for dancing. Therefore, the primary element of most of there Latin American styles is rhythm, which in Afro-Cuban music is based on a figure called the clave. There are several varieties of clave rhythms, but here is a typical example:

A rhythm section in Afro-Cuban music usually consists of several percussionists who create a complex polyrhythm around the clave:

While some styles of Cuban music might add only vocals and guitar to this mix, the Latin dance bands that became popular in the United States usually employed a horn section, plus piano and bass, in addition to the percussionists. All the parts fit together in a rhythmically complex way. Syncopation is more pronounced than it is in other styles of jazz. Even the more lyrical passages are likely to be syncopated. Here is an example of the type of dance music that influenced Latin jazz:

Jazz musicians had been borrowing Afro-Cuban rhythms for years, but many people consider Latin jazz to have orginated when Cuban dance bands started employing elements of jazz. One of the first such bands to play Afro-Cuban music with a deliberate jazz emphasis was that of percussionist Machito and trumpeter Mario Bauza in the 1940's. Here is an example of their music:

One of the first jazz musicians to consistently explore this music was Dizzy Gillespie, whose band with percussionist Chano Pozo helped to popularize this music:

To some critics, the term "salsa" refers to Afro-Cuban dance music with some jazz elements but without the emphasis on improvisation that characterizes most jazz. Here is an example from the "Queen of Salsa" - vocalist Celia Cruz - accompanied by the band of Tito Puente (who on other recordings uses more jazz elements):

One of the foremost Latin jazz bands today is that of trumpeter and percussionist Jerry Gonzalez. This group typifies the modern Latin jazz sound: