The rich sounds of Latin jazz, Part II

Latin Beat Magazine, August, 2003 by Nelson Rodriguez

In the first part of this series (April, 2003) we explored the legacy of the jazz musicians who were using or experimenting with Latin sounds prior to the sixties. This time we will explore their counterparts in the sixties and seventies.

The Sixties

On August 6, 1960, Art Taylor made his solo debut, AT's Delight, with Paul Chambers, Wynton Kelly, Stanley Turrentine and Potato (as he was frequently mislabeled) Valdés featured on three tracks--Move, Cookoo and Fungi and Epistrophy.

In 1960, Eric Dolphy joined ranks with the Latin Jazz Quintet to record Caribe, reissued by West Side Latino in the late eighties.

Max Roach recorded Percussion Bitter Sweet in 1961, with Eric Dolphy, Patato and Carlos "Totico" Eugenio (cowbell) on Garvey's Ghost, Tender Warriors and Man from the South.

In 1962, Coleman Hawkins used Willie Rodríguez on his recording Desafinado. Sonny Rollins used Candido on What's New?, while the Johnny Lytle Trio used Ray Barretto on Moon Child and later on Soulful Rebel (1971).

Guitarist Grant Green recorded The Latin Bit in 1962 with tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec and percussionists Willie Bobo and Patato. The CD version includes two bonus tracks previously unavailable from a September 8th session. Grant would later record His Majesty King Funk (1965) with Cándido.

Sonny Stitt and Jack McDuff recorded Stitt Meets Brother Jack in 1962 with Ray Barretto, who would join Stitt again on the 1966 recording of The Matador Meets the Bull, where he was accompanied by Tito Puente and Joe Cuba in an all-star line-up. Prior to that LP, Stitt released Stitt Goes Latín (1963) with Willie Bobo, Patato, Chihuahua Martínez and Chick Corea.

Vibist Dave Pike used Ray Barretto in his 1962 Limbo Carnival, but it was Manhattan Latin (1964) that became a rare, landmark album. Pike paid his dues with Herbie Mann and some of the musicians he used on this recording, including Willie Bobo, Patato, Hubert Laws, Chick Corea, Cachao and Barretto. It wasn't until February, 2000, that Pike recorded another Latin album, Peligroso, with Michael Turré, Bobby Malos, Eddie Resto, Robertito Meléndez and Victor Cegarra.

1963 saw four more jazz greats get into the Latín bag with solo recordings. Illinois Jacquet recorded three LPs in a row, starting with Message (with Willie Rodríguez), followed by Dessert Winds (1964) and Spectrum (with Candido).

Joe Henderson released the popular Canyon Lady, produced by Luis Gasca, with Francisco Aguabella and Víctor Pantoja.

Herbie Hancock's Inventions & Dimensions featured Chihuahua and Willie Bobo.

Stanley Turrentine caught the fever back in '63 with Never Let Me Go, featuring Barretto, who was also on the albums S.T. (1964) and Mr. Natural (1981).

In 1964, Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery recorded The Dynamic Duo and Further Adventures of Jimmy & Wes, both with Barretto, who had become a steady fixture in many of the sixties jazz recordings. Wes Montgomery himself would record California Dreaming with Barretto, who also joined Wes on A Day In the Life (67) and Down Here On the Ground (1968). In 1965, Wes used Candido on Bumpin'.

Pianist Wynton Kelly recorded It's All Right with Candido while another jazz pianist, McCoy Tyner, began an illustrious career using Latin percussionists in 1964.

Tyner began with McCoy Tyner plays Duke Ellington (with Willie Rodríguez) but truly arrived with his 1981 La Leyenda de La Hora, that featured Hubert Laws, Bobby Hutcherson, Paquito D'Rivera, Avery Sharpe, Ignacio Berroa, Chico Freeman and Daniel Ponce. In 1982, he used Jerry González on the LP Looking Out, and years later on Turning Point (1991) and Journey (1993). In 1998, he formed McCoy Tyner & the Latin Jazz All-Stars, with Johnny Almendra, Dave Valentín, Sharpe, Gary Bartz, Claudio Roditi, Giovanni Hidalgo, Berroa and Steve Turré.

Vibist Terry Gibbs, a big Tito Puente and Cal Tjader fan, recorded El Latino (1964) with Willie Bobo and Jerome Richardson as his key cohorts. On May 10, 1986, he carne back with the LP The Latín Connection, which generated the huge hit Scrapple From the Apple, with Tito Puente and Frank Morgan. Also included on this great recording were Sonny Bravo, Orestes Vilató, Johnny Rodríguez and José Madera.

Víctor Pantoja and Willie Bobo appeared on Chico Hamilton's El Chico (1965), featuring Sadao Watanabe, and on The Further Adventures of E1 Chico (1966), featuring Jerome Richardson.

One of my favorite groups, The Jazz Crusaders, served as the launching pad for Hubert Laws. They recorded one of the rarest LPs around today, Chile Con Soul, released in 1967.

Jazz trombone great J.J. Johnson recorded Goodies (1965), with Johnny Pacheco on percussion.

That same year, trumpeter Donald Byrd, who would later have success in the R&B charts with his funky recordings, released Up With Donald Byrd, with Candido.

Hubert Laws (who paid his dues with Mongo Santamaría from 1964 to 1967) made his bandleading debut in 1966 with one of my all-time favorite recordings, Flute By Laws, accompanied by Chick Corea, Víctor Pantoja, Cachao, Rodgers Grant, Raymond Orchart and Carmelo Garcia. His recent Cinderella recaptures those days, backed this time by Carlos del Puerto Jr., Otmaro Ruiz, Joey Heredia and Kevin Ricard.