Contents:

Rethinking Latin Big Bands and Machito

Afro-Cuban Jazz: The Journey

Marco Rizo Ayala

Candido Camero

Mario Bauzá

Rethinking Latin Big Bands and Machito

I've had an interesting relationship with Big Band music throughout my musical career. My initial introduction to jazz was playing bass in big bands - first in high school then in college. I don't recall exact arrangements that we played, but I'm assuming it wasn't high caliber material. I walked away from those experiences with a bad taste for big band jazz. Combo jazz and improvisation thrilled me; freedom from arrangements seemed liberating as both a rhythm section player and a soloist. Big bands seemed so constrictive - arrangers laid out the musical material and the musicians had limited spaces to explore. Even when I encountered Latin Jazz, I jumped immediately for the descargas and small group sessions. I'd had my share of big band music, and I wasn't about to waste my time going back into Latin big bands.

Hindsight creates powerful realizations though, and I now regret my decision to skip Latin big band studies. These bands laid the foundation for the musical ideas we explore today. The big bands in the forties and fifties - Machito, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie - these guys took two musical genres and smashed them together. We take for granted the experimentation, daring, and commitment that these musicians placed into their musical mission. Modern musicians are still trying to catch up; we simply rehash these musicians' innovations.

I realized Latin big band music's importance recently when I was contemplating two of Bobby Sanabria's albums. Both recordings, Afro-Cuban Dream - Live & In Clave!!! and Big Band Urban Folktales create bold musical statements using a big band format. The compositions are harmonically rich and rhythmically intricate. The performances are personal, spontaneous and exploratory; there is never a moment on these albums where the musicians sound restricted. Most importantly, the Sanabria and his bands move the Latin Jazz tradition into the future.

Then I ran across this video of Machito and His Afro-Cubans performing live on a Japanese television show. I heard that same forward motion in the music - the passion, drive, and devotion to push Latin Jazz into new territories. The band performs "Cuban Fantasy" with style and ease and several members improvise energetically. The composition intertwines the horns and the rhythm section grooves through it all. Then it hit me - Sanabria has studied this music inside out, and he brings all these concepts into his current big band projects. Right away I was digging out all the Machito albums I've collected and loading them onto my iPod for deep immersion. My foundation needs rebuilding, using the correct materials this time!