Latin Jazz Music Styles
A Fusion of Traditional Latin American Rhythms with American Jazz
Jul 3, 2009
Frequently, the word "Latin" is used to describe the rhythmic and harmonic elements of a jazz tune. However, this term could imply dozens of styles, from the Cuban mambo to Brazil's bossa nova. As musicians continue to push the boundaries of this genre, it becomes more necessary to define what qualifies as Latin jazz.
The Difference Between Latin Jazz and Jazz
While jazz rhythms are swung, most Latin jazz tunes have a straight eighth note feel. Instrumentation is usually different as well; a typical jazz rhythm section includes drumset, bass, and piano, but a Latin jazz rhythm section will also feature percussion instruments like the clave, timbales, congas, bongos, and more (depending on the specific style).
Most jazz rhythms emphasize beats two and four. Latin jazz tunes rely more on various clave rhythms, again depending on regional style.
Cuban Jazz
This subgenre of Latin jazz, which includes styles like the mambo, salsa, and the chachachá, blends the sounds of New Orleans jazz with Cuban rhythms. These arrangements rely heavily on the clave rhythm, of which there are several types.
The most common forms of clave in Cuban jazz are son and rumba, both 3:2 and 2:3, as well as the 6/8 clave.
While Cuban influences can be heard in big band standards such as Caravan (Duke Ellington), Dizzy Gillespie is credited with truly bringing Afro-Cuban rhythms to jazz in what came to be called "Cubop"; a combination of Cuban music with bebop. Notable albums from this time include Gillespie's "Afro" and Stan Kenton's "Cuban Fire!".
Tito Puente, percussionist and band leader, was a prolific Cuban jazz composer. His upbeat mambos and timbale solos earned him the title "The King of Latin Jazz".
Brazilian Jazz
The most well-known example of Brazilian jazz is the bossa nova, exemplified in tunes like "The Girl from Ipanema". The bossa nova combines jazz form and harmonies with samba-based rhythms, although less percussion is used in comparison with Cuban jazz arrangements.
While emphasis is often on beats two and four, Brazilian jazz doesn't employ the same swing as straight-ahead jazz tunes. A rhythm often referred to as the "Brazilian clave" is sometimes used, which is similar to the son clave, but with a delay on the last note.
Perhaps the most famous composer of Brazilian jazz is Antonio Carlos Jobim, who influenced American jazz musicians like Ella Fitzgerald, Vince Guaraldi, and Frank Sinatra. Several of Jobim's tunes are considered jazz standards today.
Puerto Rican Influence in Jazz
The music of Puerto Rico shares its African roots with Cuban music, and the two are very similar. The bomba, an energetic style of dance music that incorporates percussion instruments like maracas and güiro, is one of the most famous styles of Puerto Rican music and can often be heard in latin jazz music.
While salsa music draws heavy influence from traditional Cuban elements such as the son clave, the style became what it is today in "Spanish Harlem", a neighborhood in New York City home to many Puerto Rican residents, including Tito Puente.
Latin Jazz as a Genre
Just as describing a tune as "jazz" is not enough to convey the form, instrumentation, and overall sound, the term "Latin jazz" is also far too broad. Most elements of a bossa nova are quite different from the mambo, just as a big band arrangement differs from bebop.
Latin jazz songs today continue to blend African, Afro-Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Brazilian sounds with American jazz in new and creative ways, and it is increasingly important to understand the basic concepts of each style as the lines begin to blur.
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