Machito (Born Francisco Grillo)
December 3, 1909 – April 15, 1984
Machito was a Latin musician who, during the ’40s, took jazz improv and married it with Afro-Cuban rhythms to help popularize Latin jazz around the world. As a band leader, he fronted the Afro Cubans, who also featured his sister, Graciela Perez-Grillo as lead vocalist for a time. Machito was awarded a Latin Grammy in 1983 for his Machito & His Sals Big Band ’82, and his Kenya: Afro-Cuban Jazz of 1957 was memorialized in 2005’s 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Machito died of a fatal stroke he suffered while performing on April 15, 1984. He was 74.
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