Mambo! Afro-Cuban Takes On Jazz Classics

NPR | By Felix Contreras

Published February 22, 2010 at 9:34 AM EST

<em>Conguero</em> Poncho Sanchez gave Frank Foster's swing classic, "Shiny Stockings," a new identity as a mambo. — *Conguero* Poncho Sanchez gave Frank Foster's swing classic, "Shiny Stockings," a new identity as a mambo.

Jazz musicians have long mined Broadway, the Great American Songbook, and even pop music for material. Here are five Latin interpretations of songs written by jazz musicians, a process that isn't as easy as playing the chords of a jazz composition over a mambo rhythm. The real gold in the Latin jazz library comes from clever interpretations of songs that lend themselves to the intricate meter of Afro-Cuban music.

This article originally ran Sept. 30, 2008.

For more entries in NPR Music's weekly Take Five: A Weekly Jazz Sampler series, click here.

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Felix Contreras

Felix Contreras is co-creator and co-host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering radio show and podcast celebrating Latin music and culture since 2010.