Composers
Chano Pozo
"Chano" Pozo was a singer/dancer/rumbero born on January 7, 1915 in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana. It was in "El Africa" in the barrio "Pueblo Nuevo" that Chano got his playing experience with the local "comparsas" or carnival troupes. During his time in Cuba, Chano Pozo played with Los Dandys, Conjunto Azul, Felix Chappotín and other Cuban luminaries. It was a famous singer by the name of Miguelito Valde´z that invited Chano to New York in December of 1946 after they recorded together in Havana. While in New York, Chano’s introduction to Dizzy Gillespie by Mario Bauza melded two musical worlds together, bebop and Cuban music. Their collaboration created hits such as "Manteca", "Tin Tin Deo", "Cubana Be", and "Cubana Bop".
It is rumored that Chano Pozo's temper and involvement with drugs led to a fight in a Harlem bar and cost him his life at the age of 33. He is buried in Colon, Cuba and is survived by his son Joaquin, also a gifted percussionist, and sister Petrona.
