Culture is “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” (Culture n.d.).The culture of jazz and jazz performers is deeply embedded in American History. However, within Jazz culture the Latin jazz performers sub-culture emerged during the 1940’s and has continued to grow since. From the time when Latin Jazz was created, its performers have been considered a subculture due to the fact that they not only play the same music, but they share the same socio-cultural background, they value the role of Afro-Latin Percussion within their music and they always go back to their Latin Jazz roots even if they branch out to other styles of music.
“Latin jazz, also called Afro-Cuban jazz, is a style of music …show more content…
Most Latin Jazz musicians agree that it was Mario Bauza who invented Latin Jazz. Mario Bauza himself was born in Cuba, went to a music conservatory in Havana and played in the Havana philharmonic. When he moved to New York in 1930, hoping to make it the big apple, he started playing with different Jazz bands of the era. One day when he was part of the Cab Callaway orchestra, he was playing a song from his native Cuba before rehearsal. After he finished playing, he was approached by a band member who referred to the music Mario was playing as “country music.” Mario took such comment as an offence and in response he stated that one day there would be an orchestra just as big as the one he was in, playing Cuban music. That insult was what inspired him to form his own orchestra, which in fact merged Cuban music with American Jazz.
The fact that Mario Bauza was Cuban, the fact that he had grown up in Havana, the fact that he was proud of his homeland and his culture led him to create Latin Jazz. Therefore, Latin jazz was created out of a socio-cultural context. Being proud of who invented Latin Jazz where it came from and its origins, is part of being a Latin Jazz performer. It started with Mario Bauza and has continued with every Latin Jazz performer that came after
“Latin jazz, also called Afro-Cuban jazz, is a style of music …show more content…
Most Latin Jazz musicians agree that it was Mario Bauza who invented Latin Jazz. Mario Bauza himself was born in Cuba, went to a music conservatory in Havana and played in the Havana philharmonic. When he moved to New York in 1930, hoping to make it the big apple, he started playing with different Jazz bands of the era. One day when he was part of the Cab Callaway orchestra, he was playing a song from his native Cuba before rehearsal. After he finished playing, he was approached by a band member who referred to the music Mario was playing as “country music.” Mario took such comment as an offence and in response he stated that one day there would be an orchestra just as big as the one he was in, playing Cuban music. That insult was what inspired him to form his own orchestra, which in fact merged Cuban music with American Jazz.
The fact that Mario Bauza was Cuban, the fact that he had grown up in Havana, the fact that he was proud of his homeland and his culture led him to create Latin Jazz. Therefore, Latin jazz was created out of a socio-cultural context. Being proud of who invented Latin Jazz where it came from and its origins, is part of being a Latin Jazz performer. It started with Mario Bauza and has continued with every Latin Jazz performer that came after