Chano Pozo was a Cuban conguero (conga drummer) who performed with Dizzy GILLESPIE’S historic Latin-influenced big band of the 1940s. Along with MACHITO and other exponents of Afro-Cuban rhythms, he was extremely influential in popularising Latin/Afro-Cuban percussion and song forms in jazz. He was also a co-writer and arranger of some of Gillespie’s greatest Latin jazz hits, including the big band anthem “Manteca.”
Pozo was born Luciano Pozo y Gonzales in Havana, Cuba, on January 7, 1915. He sang, danced, and played percussion for Carnival (a Caribbean-wide celebration similar to Mardi Gras) and with local groups that included percussion greats Armando Peraza and Potato Valdes. He also became a composer of some renown, achieving success with tunes such as “El Pin Pin” and “Nague.” Pozo was a follower of the Cuban Lucumi faith, which derives from West African rituals. His drumming rhythms and vocal style were firmly rooted in these African traditions, but were also influenced by indigenous Cuban musical forms such as son, rumba, and comparsa.
Pozo first went to the U.S. with Cuban singer Miguelito Valdes. Miguelito had wanted to take percussionist Carlos Valdes (no relation) with him to New York, but since Carlos was a minor, he was unable to secure a passport for him. When Valdes brought Chano Pozo instead, the course of Latin jazz history was set.
Pozo was introduced to Dizzy Gillespie in 1947 by trumpeter Mario BauzA, who worked with Gillespie’s band as well as with the Machito Orchestra. Gillespie and Pozo had no language in common, but their musical bond was immediate. Gillespie, Bauza, George Russell, and Gil Fuller all worked closely with Pozo to create arrangements for some of his best ideas. Many of these, such as “Manteca” and “Cubano-Be, Cubano-Bop,” were destined to become jazz classics. During this period Tadd Dameron also created several original arrangements for the group.
Gillespie’s big band debuted their new Afro-Cuban influenced material at New York’s Carnegie Hall, in December 1947, to widespread acclaim. An international tour followed. Unfortunately, Pozo’s drums were stolen sometime during the tour, and he left the band to return to New York.
On December 2, 1948, after a dispute over money, Pozo was shot and killed at Harlem’s Rio Café. The circumstances of his death remain mysterious, and explanations for the shooting run the gamut from a drugs transaction that had gone wrong, to an altercation over royalty payments. It has even been proposed that Pozo had stolen money from members of his Lucumi sect back in Cuba, and that they were seeking revenge. According to the Rio’s bartender, Pozo had just played “Manteca” on the jukebox; he died before the tune ended.
Although Gillespie and Pozo played together for only a year, their time together was extremely fruitful. Their collaboration represented the first serious attempt to fuse the jazz and Latin styles, and went on to become the starting-point for many popular and jazz musicians of the 1940s and 1950s. Recordings such as Dizzy Goes to College (1947), Afro-Cuban Suite, and Melodic Revolution (both 1948) showcase their unique partnership.
Chano Pozo is remembered both as a wild character and an extremely influential drummer and composer. For Gillespie, he was “the greatest drummer I ever heard.” Chano Pozo’s cousin, Chino Pozo, was also a noted percussionist who recorded with Gillespie, Machito, and Charlie PARKER.
Gregg Juke
SEE ALSO:
AFRICA; CUBA; LATIN AMERICA; POPULAR MUSIC; SALSA.
FURTHER READING
Suarez, Virgil. Latin Jazz (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990);
Werner, Otto. The Latin Influence on Jazz (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 1992).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Afro-Cuban Suite; Dizzy Goes to College; Melodic Revolution.