Scope and Content Note
Materials from the Music of Machito and his Afro-Cubans span from the 1930s to 2015. With brother-in-law Mario Bauzá as musical director, Machito (also known as Frank Grillo) formed the Afro-Cubans, a band that actively performed and recorded from 1940 to the early 1980s. Machito and his ensemble are credited with bringing together Afro-Cuban rhythms, improvisation, and big band jazz to form an influential legacy that includes salsa music and Afro-Cuban jazz, sometimes referred to as "cubop." The group included and performed with notable musicians such as Tito Puente, Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, and Stan Kenton. The ensemble was also a family affair, with Machito's foster sister Graciela and daughter Paula Grillo singing and son Mario Grillo performing and later directing. Machito served as front man and maracas player and is credited with establishing the timbales, congas, and bongo part of the standard percussion battery in Latin jazz music. The Music series comprises approximately 150 manuscript and published original compositions and arrangements performed by Machito and his Afro-Cubans band that include scores, parts, and lead sheets. A mounted promotional poster, clippings, papers, and a pair of maracas form the Miscellany series.