Manuel Valera

Cubano Be, Cubano Bop and more

by Piotr Michalowski

posted 8/1/2005

From its earliest days, American jazz has been influenced by its southern neighbors, from Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Jazz rhythm and phrasing reflects the clave beat of much Afro-Cuban music, but the connections extend to melody, harmony, and structure as well. The great New Orleans pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton famously referred to the

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