Mario Bauzá y Machito: Los Reyes del Mambo

Chucho Valdés, son of Bebo Valdés and prominent jazz pianist in Cuba, described Mario Bauzá as “an exceptional musician;” He suggests that this is because of his “…immense knowledge of Cuban music, yet he was able to come to the U.S. and play jazz with the best musicians.”[1] Given his background and incredible success and overall effect on Latin Jazz, this is most definitely true. Born in Havana 1911, Bauzá’s musical education began at an early age. At the age of sixteen Bauzá joined the Havana symphony whom he toured with. During a visit to New York, Bauzá fell in love with jazz and in 1930 he left Havana with the Don Azpiazu band and settled there. Using connections he made through the help of Alberto Socarrás, Bauzá had many great opportunities with some of the best jazz bands in the area.[2]  Working with Chick Webb, Cab Calloway, and other great collaborators allowed Bauzá to build a solid foundation in jazz which he would need to accomplish a new hybrid of musical ideas. His strong background and experience with both Cuban and American musical styles made his dream of combining the two genres that he loved possible.

Machito, his sister Graciela, and his band photocredit: latinjazzhistory.blogspot.com

Much like his brother-in-law, “Machito” Grillo had an impressive resumé that aided in helping cultivate groundbreaking music. Already a rather well known vocalist and maraca player having worked with Noro Morales, Xavier Cugat, as well as seeing much success in his native Cuba, he came to the U.S. to participate in the interesting amalgamations happening in New York. In 1940, after leaving Orquesta Siboney, Machito formed his own band and quickly there after Bauzá joined as the band leader.

From its inception, the band, Machito and His Afro-Cubans, sought to bring Latin music up to the standards of the many high caliber American bands. Bauzá hired arrangers from Calloway and Chick Webb’s bands to orchestrate their new, hybridized sound.[3] The unification of the Cuban rhythm section and traditional swing sax and trumpets, the complete opposite of what earlier jazz musicians did with Latin Rhythms, took some time to grow on audiences, but once it did, this ensemble essentially redefined Latin music and jazz, going from mostly white, uptown musical styles to hot, progressive music. Despite their wide range of styles, the Afro-Cubans were able to move both up and downtown and appealed to a very wide audience of New Yorkers and enthusiasts. Most notably, Machito and his Afro-Cubans were one of – if not the – first mulit-racial band to be “accepted on Broadway, that is, when they succeed at breaking the racial barrier between blacks and whites.”[4] So not only did Bauza and Machito develop, they were able to overcome pervasive racial attitudes and be fully accepted by the jazz community as part of the group.

[1] Chucho Valdes, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Project, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 1998

[2] Gerard, Charley. Music from Cuba: Mongo Santamaria, Chocolate Armenteros, and Cuban musicians in the United States. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001. 12

[3] Roberts, John Storm. The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin American Music on the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. 101.

[4] Acosta, Leonardo. Cubano be, Cubano bop: one hundred years of jazz in Cuba. Washington: Smithsonian Books, 2003. 100.