The second installment in our Reality Check series brings two more details about your Latin Jazz musicianship worth investigating. Take some time and be honest with yourself; these ideas will strengthen your overall Latin Jazz concept. Make sure that you’ve tackled the ideas in Reality Check #1 as well - all these concepts combine to paint the “big picture.” I’d love to hear your thoughts on these concepts too - where are you at and what other areas of Latin Jazz stand as trouble spots? We can all learn from each other!

1. Do You Know the Clave Direction in your Whole Repertoire?

As a jazz musician, you can make conscious decisions about how you will approach playing over an Afro-Cuban rhythm.  It’s easy to play over an Afro-Cuban groove, just feel the pulse, and play standard jazz licks.  If you’ve got a strong sense of time and a solid musical foundation, you can most likely sound passable.  This takes very little time away from your regular jazz studies, and in a sense, it gets most of the job done.  If you want to dig deeper into the rhythmic foundation and play figures that grab the percussionists’ attention, you’ve got to pay close attention to the clave direction.

The clave determines all phrasing in Afro-Cuban based Latin Jazz, from the percussion patterns to the melodic rhythm.  Knowing exactly where the clave lies in all songs will bring a different rhythmic language to your improvisations.  If you’ve played Latin music for a while, you may have a good “feel” for the clave - but if you’re not consciously aware of the clave direction, you will probably play “cruzao” at some point.  Go through your repertoire list and ask yourself - if that song 2-3 or 3-2?  Try singing the melodies and tapping both clave against each one.  If you’re still not sure, ask the percussionists in your group.  Once you are completely sure about every song’s clave direction, focus upon locking into the clave at every point of your performance.  You will create more authentic statements and you will lock together with your band in a much more real way.

Still not sure about clave?  Check out these posts:
Son Clave: Your Key to Success
4 Steps to Fine Tuning Your Clave Clock
Building Melodic Ideas Around The Clave
Building Longer Melodic Phrases In Clave

2. Do You Know Your History?

Take the time to revel in recordings that show historical significance for both Latin Jazz and Latin dance music.   Listen to the Big 3’s early recordings - Machito, Tito Puente, and Tito Rodriguez in their prime makes a great study.  Spend hours with Ray Barretto and Eddie Palmieri’s Fania Recordings.  Go back and check out Munequitos de Mantanzas and Los Papines for some authentic Cuban folkloric music . . . and don’t forget la familia Cepeda for Bomba, Plena, and more folkloric Puerto Rican music.  Follow George Shearing, Cal Tjader, Mongo Santamaria, and all the early West Coast innovators for a completely different approach.  The Cuban jam session recordings from the late 50s, featuring Cachao, Peruchin, and more, are a must listen for any historical study.  These suggestions only scratch the surface, but they encompass months of serious listening. 

Take pride in being a history fanatic - make it an unstoppable passion that informs your musicianship at every turn. Research your current favorite Latin Jazz artists and discover their influences. Find albums by these original influences and study them deeply - try to hear the elements that shaped your favorite artists. Look for connections that may not be apparent on first glance, such as common players between albums or a specific soloing approach that one artist uses consistently. Isolate phrases that are “cliche” by today’s standards and see how they evolved. Connect several albums from different periods of an artist’s life and trace their musical development. Get past the idea of “dated” or “corny” sounds and instead try to place a recording in its historical perspective. Above all, listen deeply and apply every bit of musical information to your current creative track.

Want some historical info? Check out these posts:
Legendary Latin Jazz Bandleaders - Tito Puente
Legendary Latin Jazz Bandleaders - Cal Tjader
2 Legendary Latin Jazz Congueros
5 Latin Jazz Bass Players That You Must Hear

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