Afro Cuban

Cuban musicians brought conga drums, timbales, and clave rhythms to New York in the 1940s. Dizzy Gillespie hired Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo in 1947, and together they created "Manteca," proving bebop could groove harder with Afro-Cuban polyrhythms as the foundation. Machito and His Afro-Cubans had already been blending both traditions since 1940. Tito Puente turned mambo and cha-cha-cha into concert hall material while keeping dancers on their feet.

These recordings sound alive because they are. Multiple percussionists playing interlocking patterns, horn sections arranged with Latin phrasing, piano montunos cycling and building tension through repetition. Jazz samples from Afro-Cuban sessions carry rhythmic complexity you won't find in straight-ahead swing. Cal Tjader's vibraphone floating over Latin percussion, Eddie Palmieri's aggressive piano attacks, and Ray Barretto's conga breaks on salsa and hard bop sessions alike.

Hip-hop producers grabbed samples from these jazz records for good reason. The drums sat differently. Syncopation came from son montuno and rumba clave rather than standard 4/4, creating grooves that pushed boom-bap into new territory. Pete Rock, DJ Premier, and later 9th Wonder found percussion breaks and horn stabs that added layers of movement to their beats that they wouldn't have otherwise.

Our catalog holds recordings from the genre's peak years through contemporary interpretations. Many tracks offer stems, giving you isolated percussion layers or horn arrangements to rebuild however you need. Jazz samples with Afro-Cuban roots bring rhythmic depth and cultural history that royalty-free loops simply don't carry.