"Afro Blue" is ajazz standard composed byMongo Santamaría.
Mongo Santamaria recorded his composition "Afro Blue" in 1959 when playing with theCal Tjader Sextet. The first recorded performance was on April 20, 1959, at theSunset Auditorium in Carmel, California, with Santamaría on percussion.[1]
"Afro Blue" was the first jazz standard built on a typical African 3:2cross-rhythm, orhemiola.[2] The song begins with the bass repeatedly playing six cross-beats per measure of12
8 or six cross-beats per four main beats—6:4 (two cells of 3:2). The following example shows theostinato "Afro Blue" bass line. The cross noteheads indicate the mainbeats (not bass notes).
While the bass sounds the six secondary beats,Paul Horn's flute solo andEmil Richards' marimba solo emphasize the four primary beats.Francisco Aguabella takes theconga drum solo on the first recording, quoting phrases from the vocabulary of theabakuá bonkó drum.
Using brushes,Willie Bobo plays an abakuábell pattern on a snare drum. This cross-rhythmic figure divides the twelve-pulse cycle into three sets of four pulses. Since the main beats are grouped as four sets of three pulses (dotted quarter-notes in the top example), the bell pattern significantly contradicts the meter. Bobo played this same pattern and instrumentation on theHerbie Hancock jazz-descarga "Succotash."[3]
The harmonic structure of Santamaria's version is a simple B♭ pentatonic blues.
In 1959 lyrics were added by songwriterOscar Brown.Abbey Lincoln recorded it for her 1959 albumAbbey Is Blue. Oscar Brown included it on his 1960 albumSin & Soul. Singers to record the standard includeDee Dee Bridgewater,Dianne Reeves, andLizz Wright.
In 1963,John Coltrane recorded "Afro Blue" withElvin Jones on drums.[4] Jones took the opposite approach of Santamaría, superimposing two cross-beats over every measure of a3
4 waltz (2:3). This particularswung3
4 is perhaps the most common example of overt cross-rhythm in jazz. Coltrane and Jones reversed the metric hierarchy of Santamaria's composition, by performing in3
4 swing (2:3), instead of6
8 or12
8 (3:2). Coltrane's version of "My Favorite Things", also uses a3
4 waltz rhythm.Roberta Flack's vocal recording of "Afro Blue" (on the 2020 reissue of 1969'sFirst Take) uses Coltrane's arrangement.