Bobby Enriquez had the nickname of "the Madman," a title he earned through his very hyper piano playing. A virtuoso who was largely self-taught from the age of four, Enriquez was a professional by the time he was 14. In the 1960s, he played in Manila, Hong Kong, and Honolulu, becoming Don Ho's musical director for a time. He arrived on the... [+] Read More

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Candido was the Latin percussionist of the 1950s, the first person that jazz people would call when they wanted a conga or bongo player. Early on, he had recorded in his native Cuba with Machito, and he worked regularly with the house band at the Tropicana Club in Havana for six years. Dizzy Gillespie heard him and encouraged him to move... [+] Read More

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Chano Pozo played a major role in the founding of Latin jazz, which was essentially a mixture of bebop and Cuban folk music. He gained his musical background from Cuban religious cults. After moving to New York in 1947, he met Dizzy Gillespie who enthusiastically added him to his bebop big band. Among his features with Dizzy were "Cubana Be,"... [+] Read More

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Tasteful, low-key, and ingratiatingly melodic, Charlie Byrd had two notable accomplishments to his credit -- applying acoustic classical guitar techniques to jazz and popular music and helping to introduce Brazilian music to mass North American audiences. Born into a musical family, Byrd experienced his first brush with greatness while a... [+] Read More

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Drummer/percussionist Francisco Aguabella emmigrated to New York City from his native Matanzas, Cuba -- where African music was a tradition -- in 1957. He follows a long line of Cuban drummers who made their mark in America: Chano Pozo, Patato Valdez, Candido, and Mongo Santamaria. Aguabella's music fuses traditional African and Latin rhythms... [+] Read More

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Jerry Gonzalez has taken a global view of jazz in creating his unique brand of improvised music. While his trumpet and flügelhorn reflect the influence of Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, his personal cultural roots have given him a natural understanding of Afro-Cuban rhythms. As he explained to The Detroit News, "I am bilingual -- I speak... [+] Read More

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Laurindo Almeida helped introduce the Brazilian guitar to jazz, and on his 1954 recordings with Bud Shank was essentially playing bossa nova seven years before Stan Getz. After spending time as a staff guitarist in Brazil, Almeida moved to Los Angeles and was a member of Stan Kenton's orchestra (1947-1948). A studio guitarist in L.A. from 1950... [+] Read More

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Inspired by his South Bronx Afro-Cuban roots, percussionist Ray Mantilla rose to prominence in the early '70s, performing with a host of prestigious bands, and eventually led his own band in the '80s, the Ray Mantilla Space Station. All this time Mantilla remained active and continued his prolific streak into the 2000s.

Born in 1934,... [+] Read More

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A fine middle-register trumpeter whose style seemed to practically define "cool jazz," Shorty Rogers was actually more significant for his arranging, both in jazz and in the movie studios. After gaining early experience with Will Bradley and Red Norvo and serving in the military, Rogers rose to fame as a member of Woody Herman's First and Second... [+] Read More

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One of the most hyper of all jazzmen (even his ballads are taken mostly double time), Terry Gibbs is a consistently exciting and competitive vibraphonist. As a xylophonist, he won an amateur contest when he was 12. After spending three years in the military during World War II, Gibbs played on 52nd Street, gigged with Tommy Dorsey (1946 and... [+] Read More

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