Latin jazz is a catch-all term describing any type of jazz music influenced or informed by Latin sounds, instrumentation, and, most importantly, rhythms.
Latin American influences have played a part in jazz since its formative years. As early as 1923, the pianist Jelly Roll
Morton
was incorporating South American rhythms into his pieces, claiming that the Latin tinge
these rhythms lent his music were essential to jazz. In the following two decades, the music of Latin America gradually...