Best Of Latin Jazz V/A Deluxe edition

Latin Jazz has been an important and evolving current in jazz since the mid-1940s, when Dizzy Gillespie invited the legendary Cuban conga drummer Chano Pozo to join his big band. However, Latin rhythms were present in jazz even earlier, as proven by such recordings as Louis Armstrong's 1930 "The Peanut Vendor" (a reworking of Cuban pianist and conductor Moisés Simóns' "El Manicero"). Even such an iconic jazz piece as W. C. Handy's 1914 "St. Louis Blues" has a habanera-tresillo bass line.

Latin Jazz would gain prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, with such celebrated figures as Ray Barretto, Cándido Camero, Tito Puente, Bebo Valdés, Pérez Prado, and Mongo Santamaría. Many American artists, such as Gerald Wilson, Quincy Jones, and the aforementioned Dizzy Gillespie, even composed their own Latin songs, as did pianist Herbie Hancock, whose "Watermelon Man" became a hit after being recorded by Mongo Santamaría.