page_title: Machito
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Machito / Career
caption_attribution_description: Gottlieb, William P., 1917-, photographer. []Machito and Graciella Grillo, Glen Island Casino, New York, N.Y., ca. July 1947&#x5d; 1 negative&#160;: b&amp;w&#160;; 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. Notes: Gottlieb Collection Assignment No. 222 Purchase William P. Gottlieb Forms part of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (Library of Congress). Subjects: Machito Grillo, Graciella Jazz musicians--1940-1950. Latin jazz--1940-1950. Women jazz musicians--1940-1950. Percussionists--1940-1950. Jazz singers--1940-1950. Glen Island Casino Format: Portrait photographs--1940-1950. Group portraits--1940-1950. Film negatives--1940-1950. Rights Info: Mr. Gottlieb has dedicated these works to the public domain, but rights of privacy and publicity may apply. lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-copyrig... Repository: (negative) Library of Congress, Prints &amp; Photographs Division, Washington D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print Part Of: William P. Gottlieb Collection (DLC) 99-401005 General information about the Gottlieb Collection is available at lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/gottlieb/gottlieb-home.html Persistent URL: hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/gottlieb.13791 Call Number: LC-GLB23- 1379
context_page_description: Machito was a Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music. He was raised in Havana with the singer Graciela, his foster sister.
  In New York City, Machito formed the band the Afro-Cubans in 1940, and with Mario Bauzá as musical director, brought together Cuban rhythms and big band arrangements in one group. He made numerous recordings from the 1940s to the 1980s, many with Graciela as singer. Machito changed to a smaller ensemble format in 1975, touring Europe extensively. He brought his son and daughter into the band, and received a Grammy Award in 1983, one year before he died.
  Machito's music had an effect on the lives of many musicians who played in the Afro-Cubans over the years, and on those who were attracted to Latin jazz after hearing him. George Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton credited Machito as an influence. An intersection in East Harlem is named "Machito Square" in his honor.
context_section_description: "Macho" moved to New York City in 1937 as a vocalist with "Las Estrellas Habaneras" (Havana Stars). He worked with several Latin artists and orchestras in the late 1930s, recording with Conjunto Moderno, Cuarteto Caney, Orchestra Siboney, and the bandleader Xavier Cugat. After an earlier attempt to launch a band with Mario Bauzá, in 1940 he founded the Afro-Cubans, and conducted their first rehearsal on December 3 at the Park Palace Ballroom located at W. 110th Street in Harlem. A big band-style brass section with trumpets and saxes was backed by a trap drum, piano, bass and a Cuban bongo. Several weeks later, in early January 1941, Machito took on Bauza as musical director; a role he kept for 34 years. Bauza also played trumpet and alto saxophone.
  The band had an early hit with "Sopa de Pichon" in 1941. Its title is slang for "pigeon soup", a Puerto Rican joke about nearly starving as an immigrant in New York.
  Machito and the Afro-Cubans, were among the first to fuse Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz improvisation and big band arrangements. Machito was the front man and maraca player of the Afro Cubans, while Bauza determined the character of the band as musical director. Bauza, Machito's brother-in-law from his marriage to Machito's sister Estela, hired jazz-oriented arrangers and musicians to replace the band's founding member and original arranger, Joseph "Pin" Madera, who had been drafted into the U.S. Military and served in World War II.
  As a result, Machito's music greatly inspired such North American jazz giants as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton. One of the most famous performances of the Kenton band is an idiomatic Afro-Cuban number known as "Machito," composed by Stan Kenton with Pete Rugolo and released as a Capitol 78 in 1947.
  In April 1943 during World War II, Machito was drafted into the United States Army. After a few months of training, he suffered a leg injury and was discharged in October. Earlier, anticipating a long absence of the band's leader, Bauza had sent for Machito's younger foster sister Graciela, who traveled to New York from Havana where she had been touring with El Trio Garcia, and singing lead with the all-female Orquesta Anacaona. Graciela served as the lead singer of the Afro-Cubans for a year before Machito returned to front the band. Graciela stayed on—at performances, the two singers alternated solo songs and created duets such as "Si Si No No" and "La Paella". Adding to the percussion, Graciela played claves alongside Machito's maracas.
  Beginning in 1947, teenager Willie Bobo helped move the band's gear to gigs in Upper Manhattan, just so he could watch them play. Near the end of the evening, if there were no musician's union leaders in sight (he was underage), he borrowed bongos from José Mangual and played with the band. Later, Machito helped him get positions in other Latin bands. Many years later, George Shearing pointed to Machito and Willie Bobo as two musicians who helped him learn "what Latin music was about".
  Machito accepted a recording date with Stan Kenton's band in December 1947, playing maracas on the tune "The Peanut Vendor", which turned out to be a great hit for Kenton. Other Afro-Cubans at the date were Carlos Vidal on congas and José Mangual on timbales. The next month, the bands of both Kenton and Machito shared the stage at The Town Hall, setting off a surging interest in Cubop. Machito named that style of music when he recorded an arrangement of Bauza's "Tanga" with the new title "Cubop City" in 1948. Machito was sought after by record producers, and in his live shows he featured soloists Howard McGhee on trumpet and Brew Moore on tenor sax. Late in 1948 he took to the studio with Charlie Parker, and Flip Phillips on tenor sax. Machito's star was ascendant, and he played Carnegie Hall on February 11, 1949, on a bill including Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Bud Powell and Coleman Hawkins. An album made from 1948 and 1949 recordings was issued: Mucho Macho. For these recordings, the 14-piece band had three trumpeters (including Bauza), four saxophonists
caption: Machito and Graciela in 1947
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