LibGuides Blog

Hispanic Heritage Month: Latin Jazz

Hispanic Heritage in Music:  Latin Jazz

September 15 through October 15 are the dates of Hispanic Heritage Month, dates chosen because September 15, 16 and 18 are the anniversary dates for several countries.

To celebrate the month, the Mount Union Library celebrates the Latin American influence on jazz.  Local Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian idioms entertained American jazz audiences for over fifty years.  In the 1950s, Perez Prado’s blend of Cuban dance style with American big band tradition created the mambo dance craze (“Mambo No. 5”), and was parodied by crooner Perry Como in his hit, “Papa loves Mambo.”  In 1964, Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto partnered with jazz musician Stan Getz for the hit bossa nova song, “The Girl from Ipanema.”  Many jazz musicians of the 1950s through the current generation have partnered with Latin American musicians or dabbled in the medium, including Dizzy Gillespie (“Manteco”) and Charlie Parker (“The Latin Bird” album).

To explore the sounds of Latin jazz, check out Naxos Jazz in the libraries’ databases.  Naxos Jazz Library Online (login required from off campus), is a streaming audio database with all styles of jazz, including the most famous Latin-American jazz artists.   Click these links to hear the music of Gato Barbieri (Argentinian saxophonist), Charlie Byrd (American guitarist), Paquito D’Rivera (Cuban-American saxophonist and bandleader), Irakere (Cuban group), Airto Moreira (Brazilian drummer), Chico O’Farrill (Cuban composer), Eddie Palmieri (American bandleader born in Spanish Harlem), Tito Puente (American bandleader of Puerto Rican descent), Flora Purim (Brazilian vocalist), Mongo Santamaria (Cuban percussionist), Arturo Sandoval (Cuban-American trumpeter), and Cal Tjader (American vibraphone player who specialized in Latin jazz).

    Suggested album:  Latin Jazz Winners

     Suggested album: The Beat of Brazil: Brazilian Grooves from the Warner Vaults

Pro Tip:  Click on the Plus “+” button on a track or album that you enjoy to create a personal playlist in Naxos! 

Music Online: Jazz Music Library is another streaming database for jazz recordings.  The Latin Jazz section includes historical and modern recordings in all the major Latin genres as well as recordings by artists not normally known for Latin jazz. 

Suggested reading:

Latin Jazz: The Other Jazz (ebook) by Christopher Washburne (Oxford University Press, 2020).

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2^nd edition, (Oxford University Press, 2002).

Reference Oversized 781.65 N532k2

All Music Guide to Jazz, 3rd edition, 1998.

Reference 781.65 A416e3

Latin Jazz Overview at allmusic.com