Machito(1912-1984)

Francisco 'Machito' Grillo was born in Tampa, Florida, on February 16 1912 (some sources claim the Maria district in Havana to be his birthplace). He was certainly raised in Cuba, where he came to be inspired by the sounds of the Orquesta Aragon and El Sexteto Habanera to pursue a career as a vocalist and maracas player. In 1926, Machito's sister Graciela facilitated an introduction to the clarinettist and saxophonist Mario Bauza at the Havana Municipal Conservatory of Music. Bauza and Machito eventually became lifelong friends and moved to Manhattan, New York, where they played music for several Latin-style dance bands, including La Estrella Habanera. In 1940, Machito left Alberto Iznaga's 'La Siboney' to form his own big band, the Afro-Cubans. A year later, he was able to entice Bauza to leave his chair as first trumpeter with Cab Calloway's orchestra to join him as musical director and principal arranger. Tito Puente and legendary conga player Chano Pozo (1915-48), respectively, played timbales and percussion in this band and Machito's sister Graciela was lead female vocalist.

Bauza's jazz-infused arrangements blended perfectly with Machito's traditional rhythms (rumba, guaracho, mambo) to create a fresh sound, which became enormously popular in America and attracted other innovators in Latin jazz to contribute ideas, among them Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Kenton and Charlie Parker. Conversely, Machito also occasionally guested with other bands, for example, playing maracas on the original recording of Kenton's seminal "The Peanut Vendor". As members of the new BMI syndicate (Broadcast Music, Inc.), Machito and Bauza were unaffected by the ASCAP recording strike of the 1940's and were able to make a number of recordings for Decca, including the first true Afro-Cuban fusion jazz number, "Tanga", which was composed by Bauza in 1942 and became the band's signature song. Another major hit was "Sopa de Pichon" (Pidgeon Soup), written by Machito himself.

Now given the sobriquet 'El Rey del Mambo' (The King of Mambo), Machito went from strength to strength in the 1940's, playing at top venues, including at the Palladium Ballroom and at Carnegie Hall. Some of his best recordings arose from a 1948 collaboration (prompted by the producer Norman Granz) with Charlie Parker and tenor saxophonist Flip Phillips. His album "Kenya" (aka "Latin Soul Plus Jazz", for Roulette) in 1958 put 'Cubop' on the map once and for all. The great jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon also performed solos with the band at New York's Ebony Club in 1947.

Machito continued to remain a consistent favorite with dancers during the Mambo craze and the boogaloo fad of the 1960's, and beyond that, through the growing popularity of salsa. He died in a London hospital from the effects of a stroke suffered just prior to being due to go on stage at Ronnie Scott's nightclub in London in April 1984.