Latin Jazz

Raul Fernandez, curator of the Sites exhibition Latin Jazz: La combinacion perfecta, is professor of social sciences at the University of California at Irvine. An expert on U.S.-Latin American cultural and economic relations, his writings on Cuban music, Latin jazz, and Latin American social issues have appeared in a variety of publications in the United States, Cuba, Columbia, and Spain. Legendary bassist Al McKibbon played and/or recorded with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie's band, which included Chano Pozo. He became known as the leading Latin jazz bassist of the 1950s and 1960s when he played with the George Shearing and Cal Tjader ensembles. McKibbon worked with many of the great Afro-Cuban percussionists - Candido Camero, Armando Peraza, Mongo Santamaria, Carlos "Patato" Valdes, and Francisco Aguabella - all of whom he honored on his CD Tumbao para los congueros de mi vida. Bassist Andy Gonzalez organized, with Manny Oquendo, the Conjunto Libre in 1974 and was a founding member of the Fort Apache Band in 1979. A versatile musician, Gonzalez is equally at home playing experimental, progressive Latin jazz as he is performing traditional son and rhumba. Perhaps the most sought after Latin jazz bassist of his generation, Gonzalez has recorded with a who's who of jazz, Latin jazz, and salsa musicians.

Dedication - Smithsonian; Secretary; Foreword - Andy Gonzalez; Preface - Robert Ferris Thompson; Chapter One: Roots and Routes; New Orlean's Latin Tinge; New York, Jazz Central; Sidebar: Rico's Creole Band; Early Havana Jazz; Sidebar: Charanga; Sidebar: Santiago De Cuba; Chapter Two: Soul of The People: The Latin Jazz Age; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Mario Bauza; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Graciela; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Clave; Bop Goes Latin; Oral Histories/Sidebar: (Poem); Sidebar: Katherine Dunham; Mambo Mania; Oral History/Sidebar: Bebo Valdes; Latin Jazz From Coast to Coast; Havana Swing; Oral History: Frank Emilio Flynn; Chapter Three: The Latin Beat; Bongo Fever; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Jack Kerouac, On the Road; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Armando Peraza; Combo-Nation; Sidebar: George Shearing; Oral History/Sidebar: Cal Tjader; Oral Histories/Sidebar: (Poem); Oral Histories/Sidebar: Mongo; Santamaria; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Candido; Camero; Sidebar: Cal Tjader; Voice of the Conga; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Carlos "Patato" Valdes; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Francisco; Aguabella; Caribbean Jam; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Israel "Cachao" Lopez; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Tata Guines; Chapter Four: Tradition and Innovation; Musical Innovation; Havana, the 1960s and 1970s; Oral Histories/Sidebar: Chucho Valdes; New Directions; Sidebar: Thelonious Monk; New Generations; Latin Jazz Today; Oral Histories/Sidebar: the Future of; Latin Jazz; Afterword - Al McKibbon