In the period from 1945 until about 1950, there were three, simultaneous and relatively successful attempts to bring Be-Bop into the big band format. Two were formed on the west coast, one by trumpter Gerald Wilson's band and the other was led by drummer Roy Porter. Some day, someone might be able to find a way to share some of the contributions of these two bands here. Until then, you'll have to hit the history books.
The third big band, of course, was Dizzy Gillespie's first big band, which had two very significant contributions to jazz. The first, of course, was the transition of big band jazz from a form of dance entertainment to a sit-down entertainment more suitable for concert venues.
The second came from Dizzy's desire to explore polyrhythmic music--a desire he first expressed to his roommate back in the Cab Calloway days, trumpeter Mario Bauza.
"Man, I like them tom-tom things," Dizzy is reported to have said. To which Mario replied, "You mean the conga drums?"
"Yeah," said Diz, "if I ever get myself a band, I want one of them things, a tom-tom" (To Be or Not To Bop, p115).
A few years later, when Dizzy formed his first big band, he got in touch with Bauza, who introduced Dizzy to Luciano Pozo y Gonzales, better known as Chano Pozo. That collaboration between Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillespie led Afro-Cuban jazz as a unique style.
The are two notable songs from that collaboration. One is Cubana Be/Cubana Bop, which some would say is the most remarkable of the two songs. The other, Manteca is the one that Dizzy carried in his repertoire through the rest of his days.
Below is a performance of Manteca recorded in Finland in 1982, and features someone who appears, to my eye, to be a rather young Arturo Sandoval. It also has the instrumentation that would convey a very strong sense of the original.
I've also tagged the 1957 At Newport performance of the song, as it is a recording of Dizzy Gillespie's second big band at the height of its powers.
By the way, the At Newport recording contains another signature tune from Dizzy's first big band: Coole Breeze.
But, for now, let's check out the groove. As you watch and listen, see if you can figure out the clavé.
