In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s new instruments were introduced to the jazz scene in America, resulting in a mix of sounds from Caribbean and American music. This new fusion was then combined with Afro-Cuban music to create Latin jazz, which is sometimes also referred to as Afro-Cuban jazz.
Early jazz was influenced by Latin American music, which was called the “Spanish tinge” of jazz. As jazz became more established, it spread throughout the United States and into the Caribbean as well as Central and South America. Many bands began to mix the music styles in their performances and later began to fuse them, largely in New York City and New Orleans. In the 1940s, artists like Machito and Mario Bauzá were some of the earliest artists creating Latin jazz with their group Machito and the Afro Cubans.
Latin jazz has a couple key differences when compared to regular jazz. Percussion usually has a larger role in Latin jazz than it has in other forms of jazz, with more types of percussion instruments used and their influence in the music being stronger. These other instruments are typically Latin American or African percussion instruments such as conga and bongo drums or timbales. Latin jazz employs a clave pattern and straight rhythm rather than the standard swung rhythm in jazz, and Latin jazz music is meant to be danceable and usually features fast tempos and a range of musical styles. Out of this music genre Latin jazz dance has grown which combines Latin dance styles and movements with European dance techniques for jazz.
