Mario Bauzá

Mario Bauza ( born April 28, 1911 in Havana, Cuba, † July 11, 1993 in New York) was one of the most influential musicians in the development of Latin jazz.

Life and work

Bauza was formed in Havana as a classical musician and played oboe and clarinet. At age 19, he emigrated to New York, where he learned to play supposedly within two weeks trumpet. After initial exposure to Chick Webb's orchestra, he met with Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie. Gillespie and Bauza then worked together for many years. The fusion of Bauza's Cuban style with Gillespie's bebop led to the development of Cubop, an early, bebop - oriented forms of Latin jazz. His extraordinary role in this development owes Bauza the nickname "father of Latin jazz ". From 1941 to 1976 he was musical director of the Afro - Cubans, whose lead singer and front man was his brother Machito. In the 1980s and 1990s he led his own orchestra. During the celebrations on the occasion of his eightieth birthday at New York's Symphony Space theater he met the German producer Götz Wörner, founder of the label Messidor. From this connection emerged last three productions and a European tour which first led him and his Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra to Europe. Bauza played throughout his career with renowned jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Don Redman and Cab Calloway.