Hispanic Heritage

Machito

Cuban jazz, salsa musician

Born Frank Grillo, February 16, 1915, in Havana, Cuba
Died April 15, 1984, in London, England

In 1937 Machito arrived in New York City, where he sang and played with Las Estrellas Habaneras, Noro Morales, Xavier Cugat, and Orquesta Siboney. By 1940 he had formed his own band, Machito's Afro-Cubans, and when his brother-in-law, Mario Bauzá, joined the group as musical director, the foundation for one of the greatest Latin bands of all time was laid. Bauzá worked with arrangers like A. K. Salim, John Bartee, and Rene Hernandez to blend Cuban percussion and rhythms with jazz for a sound that revolutionized Latin music. One of Machito's young percussion players from this time, Tito Puente, later took these innovations and polished them still further, but he was probably the only "name" musician to develop from the early 1940s-era bands. Most of the players were originally hired as ensemble members, not spectacular soloists, and the emphasis was on the aggregate, not the individual. The music of Machito's band became a major influence on Stan Kenton and Dizzy Gillespie, while other jazz players like Charlie Parker, Johnny Griffin, Herbie Mann, and Cannonball Adderley either played or recorded with Machito at one point in their careers. During the 1950s Machito's popularity with the general public started to slide, although he continued to make albums through the early '80s.

Mucho Macho Machito (Pablo, 1991, prod. various) is a fine collection of Machito's material from the cusp of the '50s with one of his best bands. The sound has been cleaned up considerably, and songs like "Babarabatiri" and "Asia Minor" cook from beginning to end. Machito is aided by his stalwart trio of arrangers (Bauzá, Salim, and Hernandez) and the addition of jazz players Doc Cheatham, Joe Newman, and Adderley in producing Kenya (Palladium), some of the finest playing ever released under Machito's name. Their cover of "Tin Tin Deo" is superb, and the underrated Salim's charts for Oyeme and "Conversation" are a real treat. The percussion work of Jose Mangual, Candido, and "Patato" Valdes follows the tradition laid down by Chano Pozo and precedes efforts by Ray Barretto and Giovanni Hidalgo, among others. This album has been released under other names, including Latin Soul Plus Jazz on Tico and, most recently, Afro Cuban Jazz on La Mejor Musica. The latter album is a mid-price release that changes the sequencing, gets the writing credits wrong, eliminates any liner notes, deletes "Tururato," and adds four tunes from other sessions, including Chico O'Farril's "Mambo Parts 1 & 2."

Other than not having any liner notes or personnel listings, This Is Machito and His Afro-Cubans (Polydor, 1978, prod. various) is a fine collection of Machito's more jazz-oriented recordings. "Christopher Columbus" is a classic Chuck Berry riff that benefits from the Cubop treatment, while mambo cuts like "Sentimental Mambo," "Relax and Mambo," and the fun if slightly cheesy "Dragnet Mambo" show why Machito's band was such a hit at legendary dance halls like New York's Palladium.

1983 Grammy Award Winner (Impulse!, 1983)
Cubop City (1949 50) (Tumbao Cuban Classics, 1992)
Tremendo Cuban (1949 52) (Tumbao Cuban Classics, 1992)

Source: Hispanic American Almanac, Gale, 1997; DISCovering Multicultural America, Gale, 1999.