October 11, 2021- Today's Topic: Salute to the Americas
Today we focus on a number of jazz greats who came from various areas of Latin America ,some of which are not necessarily associated with the specific style of their region.
Last week we devoted an entire day to Bossa Nova which came from Brazil. There were a number of other jazz musicians who came from South America that wasn’t part of the Bossa
Nova scene. Astor Piazolla came from Argentina and is one of the music’s greatest composers. Gato Barbieri is Argentina’s most well known saxophonist. He made a major impact in the
United States with recordings and film work.
Lalo Schifrin was born in Buenos Aires and became a significant jazz pianist as well as a legendary composer and arranger. Besides his work in the jazz field he is well known for his
film and television work including some of the most memorable television themes of all time.
Another of the great jazz composers and arrangers was Manny Albam who was born in the Dominican Republic. He paid tribute to his homeland with a 1950 composition for Stan
Kenton called Samana and a 1949 piece for Charlie Barnet called Pan Americana. A number of great jazz musicians were born in Puerto Rico including Juan Tizol and David Sanchez. Juan Tizol is an early pioneer who became an important member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and is most well known for his composition Caravan. He also contributed some early latin influenced scores to the Ellington Orchestra including Congo Brava and Moon Over Cuba.