Where the Clave Meets the Changes: 'Jazz Salsa' on Encanto Tropical, Episode 62
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- 56 minutes ago
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Certain salsa songs have parts that keep dancers grooving but perk your ears up anyway. Examples are when an ecstatic piano wanders off unexpectedly or a horn line resolves in a surprising way.
This is the setting for Episode 62 of Encanto Tropical, where the sonic environment of 'jazz salsa' is explored with a selection of sample songs that attempt to show the interplay of instrumental jazz solos over a salsa groove. Also featured is a talk with the artist who coined 'jazz salsa', Celestino Sánchez (CSAN-II) -- bassist, composer, arranger, band leader.
What does 'Jazz Salsa' mean?
Jazz salsa is not (yet) a clean, established category. It sits somewhere between two terms that are themselves tough to pin down: salsa and Latin Jazz.
Let's view salsa as a dance-related umbrella term [1] with Afro-Caribbean roots which developed with other music influences. (Included among these influences is jazz, of course). As musicologist Lise Waxer frames it, salsa's Cuban and Puerto Rican core was never musically sealed off because North American jazz (and rock) shaped the style from early on. [2] Fundamentally, though, salsa's defining rhythmic element is the pattern and concept of clave. [3] And the clave is salsa's identity marker in a way that implicitly draws the boundary against genres (like jazz). [4]
Unlike salsa, Latin Jazz is meant primarily for listening. Yet music professor Christopher Washburne places it within the cultural 'boundary marker' that is the function of clave. [4] At the same time, it borrows from jazz's greater rhythmic freedom. Thus, the harmonic and improvisational vocabulary of jazz is important, but it adds layers of clave-based Caribbean rhythms. [5]
A progenitor of Latin Jazz is 'Tanga' by Machito and his Afro-Cubans, credited as the first jazz piece genuinely organized around clave rather than just borrowing Latin colour [6].
On the debate of salsa versus Latin Jazz, bandleader Oscar Hernández has argued the split is often more about career strategy than musical substance. Latin jazz has historically drawn more critics, festival bookings, and press attention than salsa has, which gives working musicians an incentive to wear the jazz label even when the material barely changes [7].
So where does that leave jazz salsa?
One take is as a label to describe music that maintains salsa's danceable clave foundation and horn-and-rhythm-section instrumentation while adding jazz harmony, extended solos, and a more exploratory approach to arrangement than typical salsa has.
CSAN-II explains that while traditional Latin Jazz frequently moves into complex, non-danceable time signatures, jazz salsa maintains an unbroken driving rhythm tailored to salsa dance steps; at the same time, it borrows sophisticated brass arrangements and extended chord structures of American jazz.
The caveat is that 'danceability' depends on how receptive dancers are, even when the jazzed music has both the clave and 4/4 time signature (odd or unusual jazz signatures such as 3/4 or 5/4 would be unrelatable for a salsa dancer). Thus, jazz salsa could be a welcome challenge for dancers to adapt their musicality, but others may not be so receptive, at least on the dance floor.
In sum, it might seem fair to embark on an exploration of jazz salsa by considering it more as a listening test rather than a strict term. However, as we hear in CSAN-II’s interview, he makes a case to classify jazz salsa as a sub-category of salsa.
Four Examples of jazz salsa on encanto tropical
Though it may feel like there's more material to file under jazz salsa now than ever, some fine examples date back decades. Here are four standout songs spanning that history.
Eddie Palmieri & Cal Tjader, 'Mi Montuno' from the album Bamboleate (1967).
The second collaboration between Palmieri's Afro-Cuban montuno sensibility and Tjader's West Coast Latin jazz vibraphone was recorded with Palmieri's own La Perfecta rhythm section behind them — giving the session a hard, jazzier edge. It's a clear document of two traditions meeting on record rather than in theory. [8] [9]
Sonora Ponceña, 'Nica's Dream Mambo' from the album Unchained Force (1980).
Pianist and bandleader Papo Lucca took Horace Silver's hard-bop standard 'Nica's Dream' and rebuilt it entirely around a Cuban mambo rhythm section. This is a jazz composition repatriated into salsa's own vocabulary rather than the other way around [10][11].
Steve Pouchie, 'Take Five' from the album El Puente (2010).
A vibraphonist who came up playing alongside Tito Puente, Charlie Palmieri, and Bobby Sanabria, Pouchie restructured the Brubeck/Desmond original from its irregular 5/4 meter into a rhythmic frame for the salsa dance floor. Latin Jazz Network justifiably called the transformation "quite incredible and unforgettable". [12]
Humberto Ramirez, 'Viva Dalmau' from the album 8 Doors (2019).
A trumpeter who played in Willie Rosario's salsa orchestra before becoming one of Puerto Rico's leading Latin jazz bandleaders, Ramirez included this track in an album built on montunos, guajiras, and boleros that still leave generous room for solos [13][14]. The tune is a tribute to retired Puerto Rican basketball star and coach Raymond Dalmau [13].
Our guest: Celestino Sanchez (CSAN-II)
For the interview segment, joining us is Celestino Sánchez, a bassist, composer, arranger and band leader known professionally as CSAN-II.
Based in Philadelphia and active in the Latin music scene there, CSAN-II founded his ensemble in 2018 and released the album Jazz-Salsa in 2020. It was a project he describes as mixing original compositions, hot salsa, and instrumental Latin jazz tracks in deliberate balance [15][16]. His most recent album, Fiesta Jazz (2025), is a compilation of older and newer tunes, some of which were first appeared as singles.
CSAN-II talks about his background, how he defines his own sound, who he considers as reference points, the significance of receiving a recent reward, and explains the core trait of jazz salsa as built for the dancer. Several of his tracks air alongside the rest of the show's selections.
One track worth flagging as a prelude to the broadcast is 'Matanzas' from CSAN-II's 2021 album Combinación Mundial (also included in Fiesta Jazz). It has been described as a lively, high-energy number built around a vibraphone solo by Tom Collins, a choice of instrumentation that leans hard into the jazz side while keeping the arrangement dance-ready [17]. Also notable are the piano (Jen Carlos Mompie) and trombones (Alexander Guerra and Randy Moreno).
Tune in
Thu July 9
5:00am PT / 8am ET / 1pm UK / 2pm CE / 9pm JPN
World Salsa Radio (worldsalsaradio.com)
Notes
"Jazz meets salsa: the melding of cool blues and hot spice." The Christian Science Monitor, December 9, 1985. https://www.csmonitor.com/1985/1209/lsals3.html
Waxer, Lise, ed. Situating Salsa: Global Markets and Local Meanings in Latin Popular Music. New York: Routledge, 2002 chap. 1, “Situating Salsa: Latin Music at the Crossroads.”
Peñalosa, David. The Clave Matrix: Afro-Cuban Rhythm, Its Principles and African Origins. Redway, CA: Bembe Books, 2010.
Washburne, Christopher. Sounding Salsa: Performing Latin Music in New York City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2008, chap. 6, "'They are going to hear this in Puerto Rico. It has got to be good!': The Sound and Style of Salsa."
Washburne, Christopher. Sounding Salsa: Performing Latin Music in New York City. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2008, chap. 6, "'They are going to hear this in Puerto Rico. It has got to be good!': The Sound and Style of Salsa."
Fernandez, Raúl A. "Latin Jazz and Salsa." In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, edited by Jane Dailey. Oxford Academic, January 31, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.641
"Jazz Caliente: Latin Jazz Starts With 'Tanga.'" KNKX Public Radio, February 17, 2017. https://www.knkx.org/jazz-and-blues/2017-02-17/jazz-caliente-latin-jazz-starts-with-tanga
Hernández, Oscar, interviewed in "Café with Oscar Hernandez: Salsa vs. Latin Jazz." Latino Music Cafe, July 19, 2022. https://latinomusiccafe.com/2018/06/19/cafe-oscar-hernandez-salsa-vs-latin-jazz/
"Bamboleate." Fania Records. https://fania.com/record/bamboleate/
"Eddie Palmieri/Cal Tjader: Bamboleate (remastered edition)." Dusty Groove. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/644635/Eddie-Palmieri-Cal-Tjader:Bamboleate-remastered-edition
"A Band and Its Music." Fania Records. https://fania.com/record/a-band-and-its-music/
"Sonora Ponceña – Unchained Force." In Sheep's Clothing Hi-Fi. https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/album/sonora-poncena-unchained-force/
"Steve Pouchie – El Puente (The Bridge) (Self Produced – 2010)." Latin Jazz Network, July 24, 2010. https://latinjazznet.com/reviews/albums/steve-pouchie-el-puente/
"Humberto Ramirez: '8 Doors' Review." Latino Music Cafe, December 15, 2019. https://latinomusiccafe.com/2019/12/16/humberto-ramirez-8-doors-review/
"Humberto Ramirez." Apple Music artist bio. https://music.apple.com/au/artist/humberto-ramirez/7048236
"CSAN-II Jazz-Salsa." ArtistPR.com. https://www.artistpr.com/artist-interview/csan-ii-jazz-salsa/
"CSAN-II – Jazz-Salsa." Discogs. https://www.discogs.com/release/15681319-CSAN-II-Jazz-Salsa
"CSAN-II – Combinación Mundial." Solar Latin Club. https://www.solarlatinclub.com/csan-ii-combinacion-mundial/
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