Cuban jazz
Caribbean improvisational music
Cuban jazz is a fusion of jazz with Cuban musical traditions—particularly Afro-Cuban rhythms like son, rumba, and mambo.
The style emphasizes complex polyrhythms, clave patterns, and percussion instruments like congas and timbales alongside standard jazz instrumentation.
It emerged in the 1940s when Cuban musicians and American jazz players began collaborating in New York.
Also called Afro-Cuban jazz or Latin jazz.
- bongosJoined pair of drums
- timbalesShallow single-headed drum pair
- rumbaAfro-Cuban partner dance
- syncopationStressed unexpected beats
- trumpetValved brass wind instrument
mambo · dance floor · Dizzy Gillespie · descarga · rhythm section · maracas · brass section · clave · call and response · polyrhythms · conga drums · salsa · saxophone · mojito · nightclub · tropical heat · son · cha-cha-cha