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Mixcloud player with full mix – or listen on the Mixcloud website.

1947 Part One – Cubana Bop

From time to time in music there are sparks which briefly spring to life, then almost immediately fizzle out again, but not without leaving long-lasting reverberations. One of these moments began in the summer of 1947, when 32-year-old dancer, bodyguard, shoeshiner and noted percussionist Chano Pozo arrived in New York on a passenger ship from the rich man’s playground of Havana. Raised in one of the most dangerous slums in Cuba, Pozo had found himself in reform school at the age of 13, only having had three years of education. His crime may have been the accidental killing of an American tourist. While there he learned not only literacy and the Afro-Caribbean religion Santería, but also to play a range of percussion instruments. On release he became a “rumbero” – the beating heart of a musical/dance troop at carnival, and after only a few years he had had become perhaps the most famous one in Cuba.

The music that Gillespie and Pozo made together in the next 15 months is so arresting that it’s astonishing that it isn’t better-known. Perhaps the musicianship on display prevented anyone else from easily borrowing. In any case the 75 years since have done nothing to blunt its power. Taking all the unpredictable, stimulatingly jarring musical shapes from be bop and fusing them to this driving, complex Cuban rhythm is nothing short of magical.

The collaboration was cut short prematurely when Pozo was murdered by another Cuban expat outside a Harlem bar, but by that point Pozo and Gillespie had collaborated on Cubana Be, Cubana Bop, Tin Tin Deo and Manteca, all to be featured prominently in these two mixes.

There’s been a bit too much history in Centuries of Sound of late, too many events taking place. This is supposed to be a celebration and exploration of sound. Sure, 1947 traditionally marks the start of the Cold War – and there is one large international event which we’ll get to in part two – but I’m pleased to say there’s little sign of it here. When I listen back to the records (and the sounds) here the joy in experimentation is the biggest takeaway. I hope it is for you too.

If you want to chat as listen, you can join the conversation on discord here – https://discord.gg/5a7f6wqjcJ

Tracklist

0:00:00 Unknown Birds – Birdsong (from Louis Kaufman – Vivaldi Four Seasons intro)

January

0:05:25 Charlie Parker Quintet – Bird Of Paradise

February

(Clip from Bob Hope & Bing Crosby – The Road To Hollywood)

March

(Clip from British Movietone Review of the Year)

April

1:39:10 Ella Logan & Donald Richards – Look To The Rainbow (Introduction)

May

(Clip from Are You Popular?)

June

(Clip from Don’t Be A Sucker)

Ending

(Clip from Odd Man Out)