Afro-Cuban jazz
A jazz subgenre integrating Afro-Cuban rhythmic structures with jazz harmony and improvisation.
In Depth
Afro-Cuban jazz is built on the rhythmic foundation of Cuban popular music, particularly the [clave pattern](/term/clave%20pattern), combined with jazz harmonic language. Dizzy Gillespie's collaboration with percussionist Chano Pozo in 1947 established the genre. Mario Bauza, Machito, and later Mongo Santamaria and Chucho Valdes expanded it. The genre demands that musicians be fluent in both jazz improvisation and the complex polyrhythmic structures of Afro-Cuban percussion, a rare and demanding combination of skills.
Chano Pozo could not speak English and Dizzy Gillespie could not speak Spanish, but their musical communication was so intuitive that they created a new genre at their first rehearsal.