Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods

The of Latin American music and jazz had been popular for many years, before Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods was recorded in 1975. Dizzy Gillespie had been particularly involved in Afro-Cuban music which he used in combination with a strong, distinctive jazz style. This is evident in his work from as early as 1947 and his famous track Manteca is a great example.

Other jazz performers were trying to experiment with music originating from around the world. Charlie Parker (saxophonist) and Machito recorded the Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite album in 1950, and pianist George Shearing recorded Latin Escapade in 1956.

The foundation of all Afro-Cuban music is the underlying rhythm that originated in Africa. The word clave is the Spanish word for key - it serves as the backbone to the music.

The son clave rhythm is:

A son clave rhythm.

This is sometimes referred to as a 3-2 rhythm. The dotted crotchets in the first bar cut across the 4/4 beat and create a pulse in . This is also called a .