Dizzy Gillespie - Afro. I knew of Dizzy Gillespie, I've heard and loved a number of his compositions, but I hadn't until yesterday listened to a Gillespie record. I hesitated, because I have an ambiguous relationship to Afro-Cuban jazz which I all too often find too tame. No such thing in Afro. The music is vibrant, full of pent-up energy. The percussions drive the whole thing to a fever, the harmony is sparse, often only implied by the bass, and Gillespie's trumpet is then free to soar above that boiling lava. The first three tunes form a suite. They're quite sophisticated with a fuller band and more harmonic texture. The last three are sparse as hell and get my vote for sure. Astounding. #music#jazz#trumpet#afrocuban
@Sammael99 a lot of “Afro Cuban jazz” was made to appeal to white consumers of easy listening music. Dizzy was an exception partly due to his own artistic fire, and partly because he partnered with Chano Pozo, a hard core Cuban santero who spoke no English and only wanted to appeal to his orishas, who don’t respond to easy listening. #jazz#cuban
@Cyrus@Sammael99 I was just posting yesterday about a favorite modern example of serious Afrocuban jazz made by a dedicated practitioner. Kevin Haynes built these tracks off of traditional bata rhythms.
@mrcompletely@Sammael99 beautiful stuff! With a name like Grupo Elegua they better not be fooling around, and they aren’t. Also a great example of how the music can be slower and gentler, yet still deep rooted and impassioned.
@Cyrus@Sammael99 yes, he is entirely serious and very dedicated. I love that album and wish it had spawned a whole subgenre 😂
Some of the most interesting blends happened outside of the American jazz context IMO, in Cuba and West Africa, artists like Amara Touré and others. When Cuban styles fed back into African music (which was also influenced by American music) things got really beautiful
@mrcompletely@Sammael99 yes! As I understand it, the US embargo meant Cuban artists couldn’t tour North America, but they could tour Africa! There they were warmly embraced, especially in the west, and a whole genre sprung up of West African musicians playing Cuban style music! It’s phenomenal and fascinating.
@Cyrus@Sammael99 that's a real interest of mine...and apparently the influence went both ways, feeding back into Cuba, and more...and it crossed over to other genres too. Fela was influenced by James Brown early on, then JB in return was influenced by Fela and the sound of those long-form horn and rhythm section jams massively influenced his early 70s changes. Papa Don't Take No Mess is structured like an inside-out Fela tune...anyway a fascinating topic. Cuban music makes everything cooler 😁
@mrcompletely@Cyrus@Sammael99 Zoukous, the popular music style from Kongo has it's roots in Cuban music. It is said that Cuban salsa and other early styles were played by the Belgium Broadcast and heard in Kongo, which had a massive success.
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