The Cuban Bolero in Spanish Jazz

Abstract

Since its emergence in the late nineteenth century, the bolero has been an important and formative part of Cuban cultural identity. Not only did it spread across Latin America from the 1940s on, it was also the first Cuban vocal style to become internationally successful, with famous examples such as ‘Aquellos ojos verdes’ and ‘Quizás, quizás, quizás’. The bolero’s remarkable flexibility has facilitated musical hybridization with many other genres, including jazz. In Spain, for example—where it has been a part of the musical landscape since the 1940s—jazz musicians have grown fond of reinterpreting the Cuban bolero, mixing traditional elements of the song genre with jazz. This paper presents the main characteristics of selected boleros by Spanish jazz musicians, taking as examples the leading jazz pianist Tete Montoliu and a vocalist of the younger generation, Sílvia Pérez Cruz. Thorough analyses of the structure, rhythm, melody, and harmony of the selected pieces are conducted, based on the author’s transcriptions; the analytical techniques stem from classical music theory and are methodically and terminologically augmented to suit the requirements of the jazz idiom. The results of these analyses show how Montoliu and Cruz combine elements of the Cuban bolero with jazz, thus creating unique versions of this popular and timeless genre.