Mario Bauza en The Cosby Show

Cute...but with some heavy weight players
Mario Bauza en The Cosby Show

MACHITO & HIS AFROCUBANS

DANCING WITH THE STARS eat your hearts out. This is an old clip, thank God for film, of MACHITO & HIS AFROCUBANS Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era. Here is another with a video of old photographs of Machito and his orchestra. You can notice the folkloric influence in the chorus of this song. CARAMBOLA
One more...then you can search your own views. AY QUE MATE and YO SOY LA RUMBA and CHANGO TA BENI

SUCH A CONSISTENTLY BEAUTIFUL STYLE AND INCREDIBLE MUSICIANSHIP

More on the Latin Jazz story..

Another excerpt from "JAZZ The Complete Story"....
"In January 1946, the influential American pianist/bandleader Stan Kenton was awestruck when he heard the same "Tanga" at a club in Los Angeles. soon, he too added Latin elements to virtually all of his music."

Gillespie made Latin music history himself with his 30 December 1947 recording of 'Manteca' on RCA Victor, which he co-wrote with a musician introduced to him by Bauza. Mario Bauza started out as a professional clarinet and oboe player in the Havana Philharmonic before moving to New York in 1930. It was there while playing with Noble Sissle, that he took up the trumpet. It was the master conquero Chano Pozo, another seminal figure in the birth of Latin jazz and the key figure in Gillespie's continued 'latinization' of jazz. 'Manteca' would subsequently become Gillespie's signature tune and one of the most covered standards in the history of the genre.

Following closely behind Machito, Pozo, Gillespie and Kenton is master timbalero, bandleader and composer Tito Puente, also known as El Rey del Timbal and The Mambo King. Born in New York to Puerto Rican parents, Puente was instrumental in taking jazz to a broader audience thanks to his big band orchestrations and his on stage flourish. And, of course, he wrote and recorded 'Oye Como Va' later popularized by Carlos Santana, which incorporated a coro section and used other eminently Latin elements, such as a charanga-style flute and, of course, the characteristic syncopated piano cha-cha riff.

Another pioneer who took Latin jazz to the mainstream was master conquero Ramon
'Mongo' Santamaria, beat known for his hit rendition of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man' and for authoring jazz standard 'Afro Blue'. It was with Santamaria's band, that a then-young Chick Corea first received major exposure, while present-day conquer Poncho Sanchez cites Santamaria as his mentor and major influence."

(Well him and I have that in common)(Also, Cachao first wrote the basic tune 'Oye Como Va' and never took credit for it)

Latin Jazz (from Jazz The Complete Story)

Excerpt from JAZZ - The Complete Story" Latin jazz is commonly defined as the fusion of American jazz melodies, improvisation and chords with Latin American rhythms, predominantly those of Afro-Cuba origin. How this marriage of styles occurred is also one of the most significant cultural, musical exchanges in history.

Mention the birth of Latin jazz to any aficionado of the art form and they will invariably reply with two names: Machito and Mario Bauza. The former was born Francisco Raul Gutierrez Grillo on 16 February 1912, in Cuba. The young vocalist/maraca man hit New York City in 1937, where he played stints with Xavier Cugat (another influence) and Noro Marales before forming his own band, Machito's Afro-Cubans. By 1940 Machito asked his brother-in-law, Mario Bauza, a trumpeter, pianist, arranger and composer who had already worked with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Chick Webb, to be his band's musical arranger. It was this orchestra that two American musicians-one in Los Angeles, one in New York-would hear, and the musical world would never be the same again.

On 31 May 1943, the already legendary Gillespie went to the Park Place Ballroom in New York. There , he heard Machito and his orchestra perform 'Tanga'(meaning marijuana), a dazzling new Afro-Cuban composition written by Bauza during a rehearsal. The piece is widely recognized to be a breakthrough in the creation of a new style of music, which has been called Afro-Cuban jazz, Cubop and Latin jazz, a term Bauza reportedly hated. Still, Gillespie would often recall that night as one that changed his life. The trumpet virtuoso was so taken with the conga, bongos, and 'clave' rhythms that he immediately incorporated them into his own group. Harlem-born Puerto Rican Tito Puente's arrangements of the mambo and cha-cha earned him admiration across a wide cultural sphere. He recorded over a hundred albums and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

JAZZ The Complete Story

I was sitting in the my dentist office, and he had this wonderful coffee table book, that turned out to be a great compilation of the chronological journey through the story of Jazz. It is called JAZZ - The Complete Story published by Flame Tree Publishing in 2007. It has been put together by a number of Authors and Consultant editors. The general editor is Julia Rolf.
I will be posting excerpts from this book pertinent to the biggest influence on my musical journey.
Be it jazz, afro-Cuban, Brazililan influenced, it has got to swing. If you exam the music coming from Cuban and Brazilian composer, you will hear what swing really is. When we get into Funk, then Soul you feel "the groove". The bottom line is this music moves your body and soul. More to come....

NEW!! BlogTV Kidd Karrim

BlogCast...from BlogTV KIDD KARRIM LIVE STREAM. You are invited to be a Friend and Subscribe to my broadcasts.
Friday October 8th will be the first one. The Classical Joint was a Vancouver club that started and supported the musical careers of many fine Vancouver musicians. It was a sad day when it closed. The Classical Joint Reunion is being held at The Ironworks as a Coastal Jazz and Blues event. Friday October 8th. It was a great community of people, some won't be able to make it, so I am broadcasting it "Live From The Ironworks". Bookmark my BlogTV page and check it out.

Kidd Karrim's "PASAJE" - Explodes WorldWide!

Kidd Karrim's "PASAJE" - Explodes WorldWide!