Mario Bauza (April 28, 1911 in Havana, Cuba - July 11, 1993 in New York Cit… Read Full Bio ↴Mario Bauza (April 28, 1911 in Havana, Cuba - July 11, 1993 in New York City) was one of the most influential figures in the development of latin jazz.

Trained as a classical musician, he played oboe and clarinet in Havana. After emigrating to New York at age 19, he reputedly learned to play the trumpet in two weeks and earned a spot as a player in Chick Webb's orchestra. But it was in Cab Calloway's band that Bauza met fellow trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie. Gillespie and Bauza worked together for several years. The fusion of Bauza's Cuban musical heritage and Gillespie's advancements in bebop eventually culminated in the development of cubop, one of the first forms of latin jazz. Bauza's outstanding work has led many jazz historians to call him the "founding father of latin jazz."

Bauza later worked with other notable artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Don Redman and Cab Calloway, and eventually worked as the musical director of the Afro-Cubans in 1941, led by his brother-in-law Machito, a position he maintained until 1976. He led his own band in the 80s and early 90s.