Frank "Machito" Grillo
Frank "Machito" Grillo (ca. 1908–1984) was a Cuban American musician and singer who pioneered the Afro-Cuban jazz style.
Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, known as “Machito,” was an Afro-Cuban musician and singer. Frank was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. His father, a cigar maker, was active in the music scene in Havana and would often hire Cuban musicians to perform for family events.
In the late 1920s and 1930s, Machito played the maracas and sang with some of Cuba’s most popular dance orchestras including Ignacio Piñeiro’s Septeto Nacional, María Teresa Vera’s Sexteto Occidente, and El Sexteto Agabama. Machito and other black musicians experienced racism while performing at Cuban clubs, including being forced to use back entrances to performance venues and maintain limited interactions with the club clientele.
The accomplished jazz musician Mario Bauzá, who would become his brother-in-law, and Machito formed a musical partnership. In October 1937, Bauzá invited Machito to join him in New York. Machito settled in Harlem, where he was surrounded by fellow jazz legends such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and Fletcher Henderson. In Harlem, Machito learned jazz basics and studied its relationship to Cuban music. He started singing and touring with a group called La Estrella Habanera and he joined a number of other orchestras.
Flyer advertising a concert featuring Raphy Leavitt y La Selecta, 1972
In 1943, Machito and Bauzá wove their Cuban music with the big band sounds of the New York jazz scene and recorded “Tanga,” which is considered the first Afro-Cuban jazz recording. Under the direction of Bauzá, Machito and his Afro-Cubans created their trademark sounds by combining Cuban mambo and other Latin styles with swing and big band music. The band’s name also served as a public acknowledgement of the members’ African heritage and their infusion of African musical influences. Machito and his Afro-Cubans headlined at the Palladium Ballroom and consistently recorded from the 1940s through the 1980s.Their popularity soared in the 1950s mambo phase. In the 1970s, Machito and a smaller ensemble toured Japan, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean.
In 1983, Machito & His Salsa Big Band '82 won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording. A year later, Machito travelled to London for a show at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club but suffered a fatal heart attack before he could perform.
Machito popularized Cuban musical culture throughout the United States and the world. He helped infuse Latin music into mainstream American music, making a name for himself as the father of Latin jazz and influencing generations of musicians that followed.