Various - Best Of Latin Jazz (LP Vinyl)

Latin Jazz has been an important and evolving current in jazz since the mid-1940s, when Dizzy Gillespie invited the legendary Cuban conga drummer Chano Pozo to join his big band. However, Latin rhythms were present in jazz even earlier, as proven by such recordings as Louis Armstrong’s 1930 “The Peanut Vendor” (a reworking of Cuban pianist and conductor Moisés Simons’ “El Manicero”). Even such an iconic jazz piece as W. C. Handy’s 1914 “St. Louis Blues” has a habanera-tresillo bass line.

Latin Jazz would gain prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, with such celebrated figures as Ray Barretto, Cándido Camero, Tito Puente, Bebo Valdés, Pérez Prado, and Mongo Santamaría. Many American artists, such as Gerald Wilson, Quincy Jones, and the aforementioned Dizzy Gillespie, even composed their own Latin songs, as did pianist Herbie Hancock, whose “Watermelon Man” became a hit after being recorded by Mongo Santamaría. This LP compiles some of the genre’s finest performances.

Recorded between 1957 & 1962.

SIDE A:
A1 Cándido Camero: AFRO BLUE
A2 Cachao: DESCARGA CUBANA
A3 Sérgio Mendes: LOVE FOR SALE
A4 Bebo Valdés: SPECIAL DEL BEBO
A5 Gerald Wilson Orchestra feat. Modesto Durán: VIVA TIRADO
A6 Bobby Montez: TITORO
A7 Herbie Hancock: WATERMELON MAN
SIDE B:
B1 Cal Tjader Septet feat. Armando Peraza: SPEAK LOW 7
B2 Ray Barretto: SUMMERTIME
B3 Joe Cuba: TEMPTATION
B4 Tito Puente: OYE CÓMO VA
B5 Eddie Palmieri: CONMIGO
B6 Efraín Mon Rivera: LLUVIA CON NIEVE
B7 Mongo Santamaría: WATERMELON MAN
B8 Quincy Jones: SOUL BOSSA NOVA
B9 Ben E. King: AMOR
B10 Pérez Prado: QUIZÁS, QUIZÁS, QUIZÁS "