September 28, 2021- Today's Topic: Cubop
Cubop is the marriage of Afro-Cuban rhythms with bebop harmony and improvisation.
It emerged during the bop era when Dizzy Gillespie added Chano Pozo to his big band in 1947.
We featured a number of Cubop recordings last week on days that spotlighted Machito, Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo.
But there were a number of other bop era musicians who began experimenting with the style.
Charlie Parker recorded with Machito at two recording sessions as well as some live performances.
The sessions produced several titles for Norman Granz including No Noise, Mango Mangue and Chico O’ Farrill’s masterpiece The Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite.
They were released under Machito’s name plus a Charlie Parker album titled "Charlie Parker South of the Border."
In 1948 Howard McGhee worked with Machito and performed and recorded the tune Cubop City.
A number of notable congueros came to the US at that time as well including Mongo Santamaría, Armando Peraza, Francisco Aguabella, Carlos Vidal and Modesto Durán.