New York City-born percussionist Tito Puente infused his big-band music with the mambo sound he helped to popularize in the US. He started out playing with the likes of Noro Morales and Machito before starting his own band in the late 1940s. Known as…

Cuban-born Mongo Santamaria is one of the most well-known percussionists in Latin music. In the early '60s he pioneered a new direction in Latin music by incorporating R&B, for a more mainstream sound exemplified by his 1963 Top 10 hit "Watermelon Ma…

This pioneering Cuban jazz band, which began recording on an ad hoc basis in the late 60s, has been home to some of the country's leading musicians. Irakere, which literally means "forest", was the name of a drummer in Yoruba legend. The title was ad…

b. 14 September 1918, Havana, Cuba. The name of revered bass player Cachao (who also arranges, composes and plays piano, tres, bongo, trumpet and trombone) is linked with the origins of mambo and is virtually synonymous with descarga, which was defin…

b. 30 October 1951, Laredo, Texas, USA. The youngest of 11 children, Sanchez taught himself to play guitar, flute, drums and timbales before choosing the conga. He was raised in Norwalk, California, where he played with local bands although his first…

b. Francisco de Asís Javier Cugat Mingall de Bru y Deulofeu, 1 January 1900, Gerona, Spain, d. 27 October 1990, Barcelona, Spain. An immensely popular bandleader and composer who became known as the "King Of The Rumba" during the 30s and 40s after he…

b. 29 April 1929, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. Born to Puerto Rican parents, Barretto was raised in East Harlem and the Bronx and has been a prominent Latin bandleader for many decades. However, he started his professional career as a jazz…

b. Damaso Pérez Prado, 11 December 1916, Mantanzas, Cuba, d. 14 September 1989, Mexico City, Mexico. Prado played organ and piano in cinemas and clubs before becoming an arranger for mambo-style local bands in 1942. He formed his own unit in 1948 in …

Cuban bandleader/reeds player Paquito D'Rivera was a child prodigy heavily influenced by the recordings of Parker and Coltrane. In the '70s, he worked with Irakere, a Cuban collective that mixed jazz, rock, classical, and traditional Cuban music to s…

Born into a musical family in East Harlem, New York, Latin jazz pianist par excellenc Eddie Palmieri grew up in a melting pot of Latin music styles. He has recorded extensively since his first groups became active in the 1960s; jazz influences began …

Widely acknowledged among the greatest congueros of his generation Giovanni Hidalgo was born in San Juan Puerto Rico in 1963 first taking up the drums five years later the son of the noted percussionist Jose Manengue Hidalgo he was educated in Latin …

Cuba's most well-loved masters of the traditional "son" style gathered to make the one-of-a-kind BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB album in 1996. A tribute to these aging but masterful veterans of the Cuban musical form, it was produced and organized by Ry Coo…

This Cuban big band was specially assembled by Juan de Marcos González of Sierra Maestra to participate in a two-week recording session at Egrem studios, Havana, in March 1996. The line-up spanned three generations of Cuban musicians, from 80-year-ol…

b. 20 February 1927, San Luis, Cuba. The release of the Grammy Award-winning Buena Vista Social Club in 1997 initiated a new era for Cuban music, propelling long-forgotten performers into the spotlight and making belated stars out of the artists such…

One of the most celebrated Cuban vocalists of the 20th century, Beny More was renowned for his versatility; his voice could carry the most upbeat mambo or glide along a sad ballad. While touring in Mexico during the 1940s, More decided to take up res…

b. 14 December 1920, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Terry gained invaluable experience playing trumpet in local bands, but developed his remarkable technique while in the US Navy. As he recalled for jazz writer Steve Voce, he practised using a clarinet bo…

Because he was a crossover success, vibraphonist/percussionist Cal Tjader received his share of derision from both sides of the jazz/Latin fence. However, his sincere interest in Latin rhythms and their potential for blending with cool jazz led to a …

Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval was one of the key figures in the popularization of Afro-Cuban jazz. He became known worldwide through his performances with the Cuban jazz ensemble Irakere, before going solo in the early 1980s. A decade later, Sandov…

Orquesta Aragon are a popular charanga band hailing from Cuba Their distinctive sound is based on traditional son with its African rhythm section and Spanish melodies over which they added three violins Orquesta Aragon were not only popular as interp…