Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods
The fusionMusical fusion is when two different styles are brought together to create a new type of music. of Latin American music and big bandA large group of musicians including brass, reeds, keys, guitars, double bass and a percussion section that plays jazz and dance music. jazz had been popular for many years, before Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods was recorded in 1975. Dizzy Gillespie had been particularly involved in Afro-Cuban music which he used in combination with a strong, distinctive bebopA type of jazz聽that uses a fast tempo, complex harmonies and rhythms, and virtuosic improvisations. jazz style. This is evident in his work from as early as 1947 and his famous track Manteca is a great example.
Other jazz performers were trying to experiment with music originating from around the world. Charlie Parker (saxophonist) and Machito recorded the Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite album in 1950, and pianist George Shearing recorded Latin Escapade in 1956.
The foundation of all Afro-Cuban music is the underlying son claveA cuban rhythm heard in jazz which is sometimes described as a 3 - 2 rhythm owing to the three augmented strikes, then two faster strikes. rhythm that originated in Africa. The word clave is the Spanish word for key - it serves as the backbone to the music.
The son clave rhythm is:
This is sometimes referred to as a 3-2 rhythm. The dotted crotchets in the first bar cut across the 4/4 beat and create a pulse in compound timeWhere each beat of the bar is divided into three.. This is also called a cross-rhythm An effect created when two or more conflicting rhythms are heard at the same time. Eg one may be in simple time and another in triple time..