page_title: Latin jazz
section_title: Beyond Latin jazz
hierarchical_section_title: Latin jazz / Afro-Cuban jazz / Beyond Latin jazz
caption_attribution_description: Português: Espetáculo de inaguração do Auditório Ibirapuera. São Paulo. Brasil.
context_page_description: Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which includes bossa nova and samba.
context_section_description: Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira became a professional musician at age 13. He won acclaim as a member of the samba jazz pioneers Sambalanço Trio and for his landmark recording Quarteto Novo with Hermeto Pascoal in 1967. Shortly after, he followed his wife Flora Purim to the United States. Once in the U.S., Airto introduced Afro-Brazilian folkloric instruments into a wide variety of jazz styles, in ways that had not been done before. In Chick Corea's original Return to Forever band, Airto was able to showcase his samba prowess on several percussion instruments, including drum kit. However, the terms jazz samba or Latin jazz are too limiting a label for the types of music Airto participated in the U.S. during the 1970s. Airto played in the two most important avant-garde electric jazz bands of the day—Miles Davis and Weather Report. He also performed on more mainstream albums, such as those of CTI Records. Besides energetic rhythmic textures, Airto added percussion color, using bells, shakers, and whistles to create evocative textures of timbre. Airto paved the way for other avant garde Brazilian musicians such as Hermeto Pascoal, to enter the North American jazz scene.
  Another innovative Brazilian percussionist is Naná Vasconcelos. Vasconcelos contributed to four Jon Hassell albums from 1976 to 1980 (including Possible Musics by Brian Eno and Hassell), and later to several Pat Metheny Group works and Jan Garbarek concerts from early 1980s to early 1990s. In 1984 he appeared on the Pierre Favre album Singing Drums along with Paul Motian. He also appears on Arild Andersen's album "If You Look Far Enough" with Ralph Towner. Vasconcelos formed a group named Codona with Don Cherry and Collin Walcott, which released three albums in 1978, 1980 and 1982. While Vasconcelos uses Afro-Brazilian rhythms and instruments, he like Airto, transcend the categories of Brazilian jazz and Latin jazz.
caption: Naná Vasconcelos playing the Afro-Brazilian Berimbau
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