Latin America and the Caribbean, 1930s to now
Latin jazz through the years
Some of these songs start in Latin America and the Caribbean, as a Cuban folk song, a Bahamian folk song or a Mexican or Cuban bolero. Others are played with Latin rhythms on record, as on Dizzy Gillespie's 1954 album Afro, which introduces Con Alma and has Manteca, A Night in Tunisia and Caravan. Mambo and cha-cha-chá bands, from Machito's orchestra to Tito Puente's, add more. This page follows seventeen songs, written between 1935 and 1964, through records made from 1936 to 2025, and has its own page.
Through the years
- 1930s
Five of the songs are written in these years: Porter's Begin the Beguine for the 1935 show Jubilee, Nat Simon's Poinciana in 1936 from a Cuban folk song, Tizol and Ellington's Caravan, and Perfidia and Frenesí, which the Mexican composer Alberto Domínguez writes in 1939. Members of Ellington's orchestra record Caravan under Barney Bigard's name, and Artie Shaw's 1938 record makes Begin the Beguine a best seller.
- 1940s
Jimmy Dorsey's orchestra takes the bolero Bésame Mucho, published in 1940, to number one in 1944. Gillespie writes A Night in Tunisia in 1942, Chano Pozo joins his big band in 1947 and plays on Manteca, and James Moody's band records Tin Tin Deo in 1948, the year Pozo dies. Artie Shaw's Frenesí reaches number one in 1940, Goodman and Miller record Perfidia in 1941, and Desi Arnaz records Quizás, Quizás, Quizás in English in 1947.
Artie Shaw Frenesi · 1940Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, vocal Helen Forrest Perfidia · 1941Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, vocal Dorothy Claire and the Modernaires Perfidia · 1941Jimmy Dorsey Bésame Mucho · 1943Eddie Heywood Begin the Beguine · 1944Dizzy Gillespie A Night in Tunisia · 1946Charlie Parker Septet A Night in Tunisia · 1946Dizzy Gillespie Manteca · 1947 - 1950s
Gillespie's 1954 album Afro puts Candido and Mongo Santamaría on conga for Manteca, gives Caravan and A Night in Tunisia a Latin American and introduces Con Alma. Cal Tjader, George Shearing and Billy Taylor with Candido record Mambo Inn that year, and Tjader's orchestra plays Perfidia as a cha-cha in 1957. Nat King Cole sings Quizás, Quizás, Quizás in Spanish in 1958, and Tjader's sextet plays Santamaría's Afro Blue in 1959.
Dave Brubeck Trio Perfidia · 1950Bud Powell Trio A Night in Tunisia · 1951The Dave Brubeck Quartet Frenesi · 1951Dizzy Gillespie Sextet Tin Tin Deo · 1951Charlie Parker Begin the Beguine · 1952Oscar Peterson Trio Begin the Beguine · 1952Gerry Mulligan Quartet Frenesi · 1952The Quintet A Night in Tunisia · 195337 more
Erroll Garner Begin the Beguine · 1954Dizzy Gillespie Caravan · 1954Dizzy Gillespie Con Alma · 1954George Shearing Quintet Mambo Inn · 1954Cal Tjader Mambo Inn · 1954Billy Taylor Trio with Candido Mambo Inn · 1954Dizzy Gillespie Manteca · 1954Ronnie Scott Quartet Perfidia · 1954Dizzy Gillespie Begin the Beguine · 1955Thelonious Monk Caravan · 1955Ahmad Jamal Trio Perfidia · 1955Randy Weston Trio St. Thomas · 1955Ella Fitzgerald Begin the Beguine · 1956Art Pepper Quartet Bésame Mucho · 1956Gerry Mulligan Quartet Frenesi · 1956Count Basie Mambo Inn · 1956Sonny Rollins St. Thomas · 1956Dizzy Gillespie Tin Tin Deo · 1956Lee Morgan A Night in Tunisia · 1957Sonny Rollins Trio A Night in Tunisia · 1957Ella Fitzgerald with Duke Ellington Caravan · 1957Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Stitt Con Alma · 1957The Dizzy Gillespie Band Manteca · 1957Cal Tjader Perfidia · 1957Art Pepper Tin Tin Deo · 1957Machito Tin Tin Deo · 1957George Shearing Quintet Mambo Inn · 1958The Red Garland Trio plus Ray Barretto Manteca · 1958Gil Evans and His Orchestra featuring Cannonball Adderley Manteca · 1958Ahmad Jamal Trio Poinciana · 1958Nat King Cole Quizás, Quizás, Quizás · 1958Cal Tjader Sextet Afro Blue · 1959Mongo Santamaría Afro Blue · 1959Oscar Peterson Trio Con Alma · 1959Ray Charles Frenesi · 1959Mel Tormé with Billy May Perfidia · 1959Nat King Cole with Dave Cavanaugh's Orchestra Perfidia · 1959 - 1960s
Grant Green's sextet adds conga to Bésame Mucho and Mambo Inn in 1962, the year Tito Puente's orchestra records the cha-cha-chá Oye Como Va. In 1963 Mongo Santamaría turns Watermelon Man into a hit, and John Coltrane's quartet plays Afro Blue at Birdland. Gil Fuller, a co-writer of Tin Tin Deo, leads a big band version in 1965, the year Shirley Scott plays Quizás, Quizás, Quizás with strings and Latin percussion.
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers A Night in Tunisia · 1960The Jazztet Con Alma · 1960Ella Fitzgerald A Night in Tunisia · 1961Dave Pike Quartet Bésame Mucho · 1961Phineas Newborn Jr. Trio Manteca · 1961Booker Ervin Quartet Poinciana · 1961Grant Green Sextet Bésame Mucho · 1962The Beatles Bésame Mucho · 196232 more
Duke Ellington with Charles Mingus and Max Roach Caravan · 1962Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers Caravan · 1962Grant Green Mambo Inn · 1962Tito Puente Oye Como Va · 1962Dave Pike St. Thomas · 1962Herbie Hancock Watermelon Man · 1962Mongo Santamaría Watermelon Man · 1962John Coltrane Quartet Afro Blue · 1963Wes Montgomery Trio Bésame Mucho · 1963Dizzy Gillespie and the Double Six of Paris Tin Tin Deo · 1963Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan Watermelon Man · 1963The Howard Roberts Quartet Watermelon Man · 1963Cal Tjader with the Gary McFarland Orchestra Afro Blue · 1964Illinois Jacquet Begin the Beguine · 1964Wes Montgomery with the Johnny Pate Orchestra Caravan · 1964Doris Day Quizás, Quizás, Quizás · 1964Horace Silver Quintet Song for My Father · 1964Wes Montgomery Con Alma · 1965Charles McPherson Con Alma · 1965Shirley Scott Quizás, Quizás, Quizás · 1965Horace Silver Quintet Song for My Father · 1965Richard "Groove" Holmes Song for My Father · 1965Gil Fuller and the Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra featuring James Moody Tin Tin Deo · 1965Cal Tjader Manteca · 1966Illinois Jacquet with Milt Buckner and Alan Dawson Watermelon Man · 1966The Dave Brubeck Quartet Bésame Mucho · 1967Stan Getz Quartet Con Alma · 1967The Dave Brubeck Quartet + 2 Frenesi · 1967The Dave Brubeck Quartet Poinciana · 1967Ray Bryant Quintet Quizás, Quizás, Quizás · 1968Johnny "Hammond" Smith Song for My Father · 1968George Benson Song for My Father · 1968 - 1970s
Santana puts Oye Como Va on Abraxas with electric guitar and organ, and the 1971 single reaches number 13 in the United States. McCoy Tyner records Afro Blue with a big band in 1973, the year Herbie Hancock rebuilds Watermelon Man as a funk piece. In 1976 Ray Bryant's trio records Manteca and Lalo Schifrin leads a studio band of brass, flutes and strings on Frenesí.
Santana Oye Como Va · 1970Sonny Rollins Quintet Poinciana · 1972Sonny Rollins with the Heikki Sarmanto Trio St. Thomas · 1972Jim Hall / Ron Carter Duo St. Thomas · 1972McCoy Tyner Big Band Afro Blue · 1973Herbie Hancock Watermelon Man · 1973Dee Dee Bridgewater Afro Blue · 1974Bobby Hutcherson Oye Como Va · 1975 - 1980s
Tito Puente opens his 1984 album El Rey with a live Oye Como Va played by a nine-piece Latin jazz band. Machito's Salsa Big Band plays Mambo Inn for 13 minutes in 1982. Gillespie plays Manteca at Montreux in 1980, Con Alma there in 1981 and Tin Tin Deo with his United Nation Orchestra in London in 1989, and Wynton Marsalis records Caravan in 1986.
- 1990s
Linda Ronstadt's 1992 album Frenesí, a set of mambos and boleros arranged by Ray Santos, wins a Grammy and has the title song and Perfidia. Tito Puente's Golden Latin Jazz All Stars play Oye Como Va at the Village Gate that year, and Michel Camilo takes it as a piano trio in 1997. Dianne Reeves sings Afro Blue in 1990, and Poncho Sanchez's band records it in 1993.
Dianne Reeves Afro Blue · 1990Tony Williams Quintet Poinciana · 1991Linda Ronstadt Frenesi · 1992Tito Puente's Golden Latin Jazz All Stars Oye Como Va · 1992Poncho Sanchez with Eddie Harris Afro Blue · 1993Horace Silver Orchestra Song for My Father · 1993The Fred Hersch Trio Con Alma · 1994Dee Dee Bridgewater Song for My Father · 1994 - 2000s
Eddie Palmieri records Tin Tin Deo in 2005 for Listen Here!, which wins the 2006 Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album, and the Conga Kings record Oye Como Va in 2001. Diana Krall sings Bésame Mucho with orchestral arrangements that year, and Rubén González plays Quizás, Quizás, Quizás on Chanchullo. David Hazeltine's trio, Madlib and Stanley Jordan each take on Song for My Father.
- 2010s
David Murray's Cuban Ensemble records Quizás, Quizás, Quizás in Buenos Aires in 2010 for an album inspired by Nat King Cole's Spanish-language records, and Giovanni Guidi's trio and Enrico Rava's group play it later. Robert Glasper's group backs Erykah Badu on Afro Blue in 2012. Dion Parson names a 2015 album after St. Thomas, and Arturo Sandoval plays A Night in Tunisia on Dear Diz.
- 2020s
Watermelon Man carries on into the 2020s. Poppy Ajudha writes new lyrics for her reworking on Blue Note Re:imagined in 2020, and in 2025 Esperanza Spalding and Robert Glasper play it at the Polar Music Prize ceremony, where Hancock receives the prize.
The tunes
Afro-Cuban
Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo plays on Gillespie's 1947 Manteca and helps write Tin Tin Deo. Gillespie says A Night in Tunisia brings Afro-Cuban rhythms into mainstream jazz, and his 1954 album Afro introduces Con Alma and has Caravan. Conga player Mongo Santamaría writes Afro Blue in 1959.
Bolero
Consuelo Velázquez publishes Bésame Mucho in Mexico in 1940 as a bolero, a style that began in Cuba. Alberto Domínguez writes Perfidia as a bolero in 1939, and Osvaldo Farrés writes Quizás, Quizás, Quizás in 1947. Nat King Cole sings Quizás in Spanish in 1958 and Perfidia in 1959.
Caribbean
Poinciana grew from a Cuban folk song, and St. Thomas is based on a Bahamian one. Dave Pike's 1962 St. Thomas session, with Ray Barretto on conga, also makes Calypso Blues, and a drummer from the US Virgin Islands names a 2015 album after the tune.
Mambo and conga
Mario Bauzá of Machito's Afro-Cuban orchestra is a credited writer of Mambo Inn, and Tito Puente records Oye Como Va as a cha-cha-chá in 1962. Erroll Garner's 1954 Begin the Beguine adds Candido's conga, and Brubeck's quartet adds a bongo and conga player for Frenesí, live in Mexico in 1967.
Latin jazz bands
Poncho Sanchez leads a Latin jazz band with Mongo Santamaría as guest on Watermelon Man, the tune Mongo made a hit in 1963. Michel Camilo plays Song for My Father on an album listed as Latin jazz, and Conrad Herwig recasts Silver's tunes in a Latin framework.
Brazilian
For the Brazilian side, and samba, see the bossa nova page: a Brazilian song style that starts on record in 1958 and reaches American jazz players by the early 1960s.