Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Francisco “Chino” Pozo was born on October 4, 1915 in Havana, Cuba. An autodidact on piano and bass, he concentrated on bongos, congas, and drums before leaving his home for greener pastures. Moving to the United States in 1937, he played with Machito from 1941–43 and with the Jack Cole Dancers from 1943-1949.
In the Fifties he went on to play in numerous jazz ensembles, especially latin jazz and Afro-Cuban jazz. He performed and/or recorded with Jose Curbelo, Noro Morales, Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, Enric Madriguera, Perez Prado, Josephine Premice, Tadd Dameron, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie.
He toured with Peggy Lee in 1954-55 and played with Stan Kenton in 1955, Herbie Mann in 1956, Xavier Cugat and René Touzet in 1959.
He also recorded with Illinois Jacquet, Phineas Newborn, Gábor Szabó, Paul Anka, Justo Betancourt, Harry Betts, Fats Navarro, Eddie Palmieri, Johnny Richards, A. K. Salim, Billy Taylor, Clark Terry, Chico O’Farrill, Julius Watkins and Charlie Rouse.
Drummer Chino Pozo, whose claim to be the cousin of Chano Pozo has been disputed, died on April 28, 1980 in New York City.
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AGUANKÓ
Conga player and composer Alberto Nacif and the superlative musicians who make up the sizzling Latin Jazz group Aguankó have a new, all original Latin Jazz recording titled “Unidad”, which was released at the July 2023 performance at Blue LLama.
This recording features the core group of Aguanko musicians from the incredibly rich Detroit area jazz scene performing original music which will continue the trajectory of this exciting group. Aguanko’s four previous recordings of original music since 2012 have been top 50 in the Jazzweek charts.
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ARMANDO VEGA & 313 ORCHESTRA
Sonero y Conguero Armando Vega grew up immersed in Latin music and culture in Detroit, Michigan. Beginning to sing Salsa at seventeen, he received early mentoring from Herman Olivera, famed Grammy nominated singer with Eddie Palmieri, The Spanish Harlem Orchestra, and many others. Years later Armando performed with Olivera before a crowd of 30,000 at the Cleveland Puerto Rican Festival. He has promoted his own CD touring Puerto Rico, opening for Latin greats El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and many other prominent PR artists. He has also performed with Elias Lopes, one of Puerto Rico’s most influential Latin Jazz trumpeters. He has toured and headlined with Tito Puente, Jr., and recorded his own CD produced by Latin jazz saxophonist Luis Disla. Armando has established an enthusiastic following in and beyond Detroit.
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Three Wishes
While hanging out with Nica having conversation one evening, she inquired of Willie Bobo that if given three wishes that would be granted what would he wish for and he replied:
- “Health.”
- “Wealth.”
- “Time to enjoy it!”
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PONCHO SANCHEZ COMES HOME
A Thanksgiving Celebration
Poncho Sánchez is an American conguero, Latin jazz band leader, and salsa singer. In 2000, he and his ensemble won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album for their work on the Concord Picante album Latin Soul.
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