MARIO BAUZÁ

(b. 28 April 1911 in Havana, Cuba; d. 11 July 1993 in New York City), musician who was essential to the incorporation of Caribbean African and Caribbean Hispanic rhythms and melodies into jazz. Mario Bauzá was one of six children born to Hilario and Dolores Bauzá, but Mario was raised through nearly all of his childhood by his godparents, Arturo Andrade and Sofia Domínguez Andrade. The Andrades were members of an influential Havana family, Vieta-Placencia, and were materially quite secure. Arturo Andrade was a music teacher and realized that young Mario had an innate gift for melody and rhythm. As part of Andrade’s disciplined parenting style, four-year-old Mario received weekly music lessons in solfege (melody and rhythm skills) with Modesto Fraga, conductor of the Havana Municipal Band. During that time, Mario began to play the oboe, which he did not much enjoy, saying that it “sounded Chinese” to him. After quitting the read more...