Chano Pozo, Gil Fuller and Dizzy Gillespie, music · First recorded in New York on October 25, 1948, by James Moody and His Bop Men
Tin Tin Deo
Tin Tin Deo is a 1948 Afro-Cuban jazz tune by Chano Pozo, Gil Fuller and Dizzy Gillespie. It mixes Afro-Cuban rhythm with , and it is usually played in . You will hear it on records by Dizzy Gillespie, Art Pepper, Machito, Cal Tjader and Eddie Palmieri.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the first recording, made in 1948 with Chano Pozo on bongo and voice, and Gillespie's own 1951 version. It goes on to a big band, Art Pepper's quartet and Machito's Afro-Cuban orchestra, then a Paris vocal group with Gillespie, co-writer Gil Fuller's own arrangement, and Eddie Palmieri's 2005 Latin jazz album.
1960sDizzy Gillespie and the Double Six of Paris1963 · Bebop
Gil Fuller and the Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra featuring James Moody1965 · Big band
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000sEddie Palmieri2005 · Contemporary jazz
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Hear the first recording
James Moody and His Bop Men · 1948
Single, with “Oh Henry!”
James Moody's band made the first recording of the tune on October 25, 1948, with co-writer Gil Fuller as arranger and co-writer Chano Pozo on bongo and voice. Pozo died on December 2, 1948.
First recording
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Listen for
Listen for Chano Pozo's bongo and voice beside two trumpets, three saxophones and a standard . The track runs 2 minutes 48 seconds, short enough for one side of its single.
Try it on your instrument
Play the as a loop: for two , then for two bars, twice through. Smaller version: play for two bars and for two bars, with just the root in your left hand.
Gillespie's own studio recording, made in Detroit on March 1, 1951 with John Coltrane and Milt Jackson in the sextet. It came out on the Dee Gee single 3600 and on his 1956 Savoy album The Champ.
Gillespie's own record
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Listen for
The session adds conga, maracas and claves to the sextet, so listen for hand percussion under the trumpet, saxophone and vibraphone. The record is only 2 minutes 43 seconds long.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the , two to a bar: , , Fm6 , . Smaller version: play only the roots, F E♭, D♭ C, F D, G G♭.
A big-band studio version recorded in New York on June 6, 1956, produced by Norman Granz, with Quincy Jones, Melba Liston and Phil Woods in the band. It came out on the 1957 Verve album Dizzy in Greece.
Big band version
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Listen for
Listen for the size of the sound: five trumpets, three trombones and five saxophones play over a piano, bass and drums . The track lasts 4 minutes 18 seconds.
Try it on your instrument
Play the : | B♭m7 | | | B♭m7 | B♭m7 E♭7♭9 | A♭maj7 | Dm7♭5. Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Alto saxophonist Art Pepper recorded it in Los Angeles on January 19, 1957 with Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, for the album Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section.
Alto sax with rhythm section
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Listen for
Only four players take part: alto saxophone, piano, bass and drums, with no percussionists. At 7 minutes 42 seconds it runs almost three times as long as Gillespie's 1951 record.
Try it on your instrument
Loop the ( for two , for two) and play only the notes F, A♭, B♭, C and E♭ over it. That needs some comfort with improvising; the smaller version is to play just F and C, one note per bar.
Machito's Afro-Cuban orchestra recorded it at Metropolitan Studios in New York in December 1957, with Mario Bauzá conducting. It is the only tune on the album Kenya that was not written for it.
Afro-Cuban orchestra
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Listen for
Two conga players, Candido and Carlos Patato Valdés, work with bongos, timbales and a full horn section. The reissue notes single out Doc Cheatham's trumpet playing on this tune.
Try it on your instrument
Count four beats to the and clap on beats 2 and 4 while you play the eight-bar , two chords to a bar. Smaller version: play only the first chord of each pair, one per bar.
Dizzy Gillespie and the Double Six of Paris · 1963 · Bebop, Vocal
Dizzy Gillespie and the Double Six of Paris
Dizzy Gillespie's quartet, with Bud Powell on piano, joins the Paris vocal group the Double Six of Paris at Studio Europasonor on July 8, 1963. Lalo Schifrin is credited as arranger.
Vocal group version
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Listen for
Listen for the Double Six of Paris singing beside Gillespie's trumpet and the piano, bass and drums of Bud Powell, Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke. The track lasts 4 minutes 15 seconds.
Try it on your instrument
Hum the tune along with the recording, then play the roots of the as a bass line: F E♭, D♭ C, F D, G G♭, F E♭, D♭ C, F B♭, E♭ D. Smaller version: play only the first four .
Gil Fuller and the Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra featuring James Moody · 1965 · Big band
Night Flight
Gil Fuller, one of the tune's co-writers, arranged and led this big-band version in Los Angeles in December 1965, with James Moody on flute and Francisco Aguabella on conga and bongo. It came out on the album Night Flight.
Co-writer's arrangement
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Listen for
A heavy, slow-feeling opening gives way to a brighter Latin beat while James Moody's flute carries the melody. Later the trumpets take over, the beat changes to swing, and the track ends on a fade-out.
Try it on your instrument
Play the once with even, Latin-style eighth notes and once with long-short swing eighths, as the arrangement switches between the two feels. Smaller version: play only the first four bars each way.
Pianist Eddie Palmieri recorded it in January 2005 at Avatar Studios in New York for the album Listen Here!, which won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.
Latin jazz band
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Listen for
Palmieri leads from the piano. The album's band has horns, guitar, violin, two bass players, drums and Giovanni Hidalgo on percussion, and this track runs 6 minutes 21 seconds.
Try it on your instrument
Comp the loop with short on the off-beats: for two , for two bars, twice through. Smaller version: play one chord on each beat.
Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo, who joined Dizzy Gillespie's big band in 1947, helps write the tune. James Moody's band records it on October 25, 1948, with Pozo on bongo and voice. Pozo dies on December 2, 1948.
1950s
Dizzy Gillespie records it for the Dee Gee label in 1951, with conga, maracas and claves in the band, and again with a big band in 1956. Art Pepper plays it with a piano, bass and drums in 1957, and Machito's Afro-Cuban orchestra records it that December.
1960s
The Paris vocal group the Double Six sings it with Dizzy Gillespie's quartet in 1963. In 1965 co-writer Gil Fuller arranges it for a big band with a flute feature and a conga player in the section.
1970s
Drummer Elvin Jones records it in June 1979 at Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey, in a quartet with saxophonist Art Pepper.
1980s
Dizzy Gillespie leads his United Nation Orchestra at London's Royal Festival Hall in June 1989, in a live recording of about ten minutes with congas and other percussion in the band.
2000s
Pianist Eddie Palmieri records it in January 2005 for Listen Here!, an album that won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album and has saxophonist Michael Brecker among its players.
More great versions
6 more, from 1953 to 1989. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sDizzy Gillespie Quintet1953
1960sPee Wee Russell and Coleman Hawkins1961 · Swing
Oscar Peterson Trio1964 · Post-bop
Cal Tjader1965
1970sElvin Jones Quartet1979 · Post-bop
1980sDizzy Gillespie and the United Nation Orchestra1989 · Bebop
Dizzy Gillespie Quintet
1953
Concert Salle Pleyel 1953
Recorded live at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on February 9, 1953, by Gillespie's quintet. Gillespie is listed on trumpet, vocal and conga for the concert.
The Oscar Peterson Trio recorded it in May 1964 in Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer's private studio in Villingen, West Germany, with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen. It was first issued in 1968 on the MPS album Action.
Cal Tjader recorded it as Soul Bird (Tin Tin Deo) on June 22, 1965 at Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey, on vibraphone with Armando Peraza on percussion.
Drummer Elvin Jones led this quartet at Van Gelder Studio in June 1979, with saxophonist Art Pepper, pianist Roland Hanna and bassist Richard Davis. It was issued in Japan as Very R.A.R.E.
Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra recorded this live at London's Royal Festival Hall on June 10, 1989. The album's band includes trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera and conga player Giovanni Hidalgo.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
F minorusual key
48 barsA · B · A · B · C · B form
F m → B♭ m → F mkey centers
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars
C8 bars
B8 bars
F m
B♭ m
F m
Forty-eight in , following iReal Pro's chart: the first sixteen bars (A and B) are marked to be played twice, then comes a and a last B, so the order is A B A B C B. The has two in most bars: and , and , Fm6 and , and , then Fm6 and E♭m6 and D♭maj7 and C7♯5 again, and and with and to finish. The is a two-chord loop: for two bars, Fm6 for two, and that pair once more. The C section moves to and chords (, , , , , ) and ends on and , which leads back to the last B. Other charts may place the repeats or an introduction differently.