By Emiliano Gullo – @emilianogullo
(Editor's note: Another chronicle unearthed from the wonderful archives of our friends at NTD.la, allowing us to revisit a captivating musical story from the first half of the twentieth century. Remembering Chano Pozo is to recall some of the finest moments in jazz and Caribbean music through one of its most brilliant performers. Welcome once again to enjoy an exquisite account of a Latin legend.).
Chano Pozo didn't live to see the Cuban revolution. He, in a way, had already made it. And in the heart of the empire. He was 33 years old and living in New York when a dealer emptied a revolver into him on December 3, 1948. But he had had plenty of time to become the "Drum of Cuba" and turn the very American world of Jazz upside down with his congas and Afro-Cuban rhythms.
As if it were an indispensable requirement to become a legend, Chano's birthplace is still under discussion. The date and city are known: January 7, 1915. But where? In this case, it is not a dispute between countries - like the Carlos Gardel case - nor between cities. Here in Havana, the neighborhoods are fighting over who created Chano. Cayo Hueso, Pueblo Nuevo, Belén. The working-class neighborhoods of post-revolutionary Cuba still celebrate the birth of Luciano “Chano” Pozo González. What no one has ever doubted is his humble origins and his meteoric rise to the heights of drumming.
They say that wherever there was rum and women, you could find Chano hitting the congas so that the party would never stop. He was also seen dancing, shaking his hips. And everyone else's. This is how his adolescence unfolded after leaving the Boys' Correctional Facility in Guanajay, Pinar del Río. Between parties, he had to work various jobs to survive: shoeshiner, newspaper vendor, auto body mechanic. By the 1930s—before turning 25— He composed songs that would later become massive hits in the voice of Miguelito Valdés and the Casino de la Playa orchestra, as «Blen blen blen», «Ana Boroco Tinde», «Parampampín». He also played with the Palau Brothers and choreographed dances for shows and revues in Havana nightclubs and theaters. His name and musical talent grew to the rhythm of his congas.
His assault on the world jazz scene came with the help of his half-brother, the renowned trumpeter Felix Chapottin, and his friend Gillespie., Perhaps the greatest trumpet player until the emergence of Miles Davis. They say that when Gillespie asked him what instrument he played, Chano answered without hesitation: “What I feel”. By the end of 1946 he was already a permanent member of the trumpeter's orchestra. Together they composed -among other songs- “"Butter"” One of the hits of the era; a rhythmic battle unleashed between Dizzy's strident vocals and Chano's ferocious drumming. They both soon played at the legendary Carnegie Hall, although not to the best reviews, and recorded several albums.
He also worked alongside Machito, Miguelito Valdés, Arsenio Rodríguez, Olga Guillot, Tito Rodríguez and alongside the god of the saxophone, Charlie Parker. During the late 1940s he performed in several European countries and returned to New York, the city where he met his killer: Eusebio Muñoz, a Puerto Rican sniper in the U.S. Army during World War II. It turns out Chano couldn't find a better source of marijuana than "Corporal" Muñoz. Apparently, the percussionist got angry with the former soldier. He accused him of swindling him and vowed revenge. But it was "Corporal" who got his revenge. On December 3, 1948, he went to find Chano at a bar in Harlem. Chano was dancing in the middle of the dance floor. Muñoz approached and shot him dead. He was buried in Havana. Years later, in one of his biographies, Gillespie remembered him: “"He was the greatest drummer I've ever heard.".
