LATIN JAZZ (rare)

TONY MARTINEZ QUINTET - "ican" original record from my collection check my facebook for gigs & events: https://www.facebook.com/dirtyfunkysoul.erbambas Tony Martinez was a bandleader and vibraphonist whose names pops up occasionally in the context of Los Angeles Latin music. On this early Latin jazz recording (ca. '54), Martinez leads his razor-sharp quintet through a classic Eddie Cano composition, with the great Cano himself handling piano duties. "Ican" is the template for the dark, exotic strain of Latin jazz that found favor in post-War California nightclubs (see also Roscoe Weathers) -- both Cano and Martinez whip through their parts with the kind of crazed, infernal energy that must have spooked the bourbon 'n' pineapple crew down at PJ's. "Ican" was later covered with characteristic elan by conguero Poncho Sanchez (who's kept the spirit of West Coast Latin jazz alive in recent decades) on his Bien Sabroso album. Singer, bandleader, bassist, percussionist and vibraphonist Tony Martinez was an incorrigible showman. He wound up -- where else -- in television in the late '50s, and, for better or worse, those years as Pepino on The Real McCoys will probably be the ones that he's remembered for. Martinez's spotlight flair bore its greatest fruit in music, however. There is drama in his handful of brilliant mambo-jazz 45s from the early- to mid-'50s -- this selection, for instance, as well as previously posted "Ican." The virtuosic performance with his combo (with Eddie Cano on piano) in 1956's Rock Around the Clock is pure showmanship. Tony Martinez was born in 1920 in Puerto Rico. A gifted musician, he studied in San Juan, moving to New York City in the '40s to attend Juilliard. He'd form a few groups of his own there, and play bass for pianist Noro Morales, a pioneer of jazzy rumbas. Destined for balmier shores, though, Martinez relocated to Hollywood in the late '40s. His combos would be among the first to play the mambo and heavier Afro-Latin material. He was a local phenomenon; by the '50s he was a featured act both at upscale Sunset Strip clubs and at huge ballroom events like the Palladium's Latin Holiday dance nights. he died 22 sep. 2002 south-Florida Sun-sentinel

Added 1 May 2026