When you hear the crack of a conga or the steady rhythm of a clave, you're not just listening to music—you’re hearing history. Latin jazz, with all its fiery flair and improvisational brilliance, is a descendant of Black musical traditions that span continents and centuries. It is African at its core—born from the rhythms carried across oceans, reshaped in resistance, and passed down through generations.

At Dabney & Co., every Latin Night is a celebration not just of sound, but of legacy. And to truly appreciate the power of Latin jazz, we have to begin where the music did: with Africa.

Rhythms of the African Diaspora

Long before jazz ever had a name, African cultures were communicating through drums. Rhythm was language, ceremony, protest, and celebration. When enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas and the Caribbean, they carried these traditions with them—sometimes openly, sometimes in secret.

In Cuba, Haiti, Brazil, and Puerto Rico, African rhythms merged with Spanish, Indigenous, and later American musical influences. But it was those African foundations—bata, conga, clave—that formed the heartbeat of what would become Afro-Cuban music, and eventually Latin jazz.

The clave rhythm, often seen as the backbone of Latin jazz, originated in West African music. It's more than a beat—it’s a code, a conversation, a lifeline.

The Jazz Connection: Black America Meets Afro-Caribbean Tradition

In the early 20th century, New Orleans jazz—a product of Black American innovation—was evolving rapidly. Meanwhile, Afro-Cuban musicians were creating their own forms of syncopated dance music. It wasn’t long before the two worlds collided.

The 1940s saw a musical explosion in New York City’s Harlem and Spanish Harlem neighborhoods, where Black American jazz musicians and Afro-Cuban players shared bandstands, clubs, and studio sessions. Visionaries like Dizzy Gillespie and Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo brought bebop and Afro-Cuban rhythm together, creating what many cite as the true birth of Latin jazz.

This wasn’t cultural borrowing—it was cultural kinship. Two Black diasporic traditions finding their shared voice.

Black Pioneers Who Shaped the Sound

Though Latin jazz often gets associated with Latin identity broadly, it’s important to honor the Black artists who laid its foundation:

• Chano Pozo – An Afro-Cuban drummer and santería practitioner whose powerful conga playing helped launch Afro-Cuban jazz in the U.S.

• Mongo Santamaría – Cuban-born percussionist known for “Afro Blue,” blending jazz and African rhythm into a new spiritual language.

• Machito (Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo) – A bandleader of Afro-Cuban descent who pushed boundaries by fusing big-band swing with traditional Cuban music.

• Art Blakey – Though not a Latin jazz artist per se, his work with Afro-drum ensembles and rhythmic innovation deeply influenced crossover styles.

These artists weren’t just making music—they were reclaiming history, blending traditions that had long been divided by colonial borders and systems.

From Resistance to Celebration

At its roots, Latin jazz is music born of resistance and resilience. The drum was once banned on plantations because it carried messages—of uprising, of hope, of identity. Yet the rhythms survived, morphing into salsa, mambo, rumba, and ultimately, Latin jazz.

Each beat played today is a living tribute to that journey.

At Dabney & Co., we honor that legacy not just by playing the music, but by creating a space that respects its cultural weight. On Latin Night, when Los Ritmos de Kalamazoo fills the room with sound, it’s more than a performance—it’s a continuation of a centuries-old story.

Feel the Rhythm, Know the Roots

Latin jazz isn’t just dance music—it’s history set to rhythm. It’s the sound of diaspora, of unity, of joy rising from struggle. When you experience it live at Dabney & Co., you're not just listening—you’re participating in a vibrant, global Black musical tradition.

So the next time the horns swell and the drums pulse, take a moment to remember where it all comes from. And then? Let yourself be moved.

Join us in celebrating this legacy.
Reserve your seat for the next Latin Night at Dabney & Co., and feel the rhythm that connects us all.
www.drinkswithdabney.com/reserve