Jazz was born and developed in major cities of the United States such as New Orleans, Chicago, New York, and Kansas City. But, did you know that jazz has also been shaped by countries outside of the US? Let’s learn about two of the countries that have made an impact on jazz - Cuba and Brazil.

The island of Cuba is located just south of Florida in the Caribbean Sea. Its music is known for its exciting rhythms played by conga drums, cowbells and other percussion that accompany singing and dancing. Watch an example of the world-famous Cuban group “Los Munequitos de Matanzas”, performing by drumming, singing and dancing.

In the United States, the great trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie heard a Cuban drummer named Chano Pozo. He was so impressed that he hired Chano Pozo for his band and began writing songs that were inspired by Cuban music . Watch our own Bobby Floyd quintet play Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia”.

• How do the rhythms in the video below compare to the video above?

• Does it sound like JAZZ?

• Could you DANCE to the music?

Further south from Cuba is the country of Brazil, located in the continent of South America. Its music is also famous music known as samba, which also consists of exciting rhythms played by many percussion instruments. Samba groups can be found marching in a giant parade known as Carinval in the city of Rio de Janerio. Watch an example of a samba parade taking place at Carnival in Rio.

Not long after jazz was born, musicians began to mix jazz with Brazilian music to create a brand new sound. Listen to Bobby’s quartet perform Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “One Note Samba”, which combines elements of jazz and samba.

• How do the rhythms compare to the video above?

• Does it sound like JAZZ?

• Could you march in a parade to this music?