TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
If jazz has a heartbeat, Afro-Cuban jazz has a pulse—and it’s called the clave.
The clave is a repeating two-measure rhythm pattern—either 3-2 or 2-3—and it’s the backbone of Afro-Cuban music. You hear it in salsa, mambo, rumba… and yes, in jazz too.
When Dizzy Gillespie teamed up with Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo in the 1940s, they introduced clave to American jazz audiences. The result? A brand-new sound—Afro-Cuban jazz. Think “Manteca”, full of fire, syncopation, and swing.
Clave isn’t just a rhythm—it’s a framework. It guides the groove, shapes the phrasing, and connects jazz to African musical roots.
Without clave, there’s no Afro-Cuban jazz. With clave, jazz dances.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible by The ETV Endowment of South Carolina.