Page o' coordination: “Latin in 3”

“Latin 3” is not a style name you often hear; it's not a true Cuban/Salsa style that I'm aware of, and is not a super-common Brazilian style. But jazz musicians will call for it occasionally, suggesting a generic, non-clave, quasi-Cuban style— a loose Afro 6/8, with a 3/4 interpretation.

So this Page o' coordination will look suspiciously like the many other Afro 6/8 POCs we've done, except I've notated in in 3/4, and given it a hihat part in 3. Hopefully this will help us find some crossover between regular jazz waltz playing, an “ECM” feel in 3, and our Afro 6 feel, giving each of those styles some room to develop when we play them.

Incidentally, since there was a comment about this recently: “Afro 6” (or Afro-Cuban 6/8, or 12/8) is just a US jazz musicians' name for a style adapted from Cuban music. It's also sometimes referred to by some of the many Cuban folkloric styles with which the approximate groove is used, usually Nañigo (sometimes “Naningo”) or Bembé. But Bembé is religious ceremonial music, and is highly specific in every aspect; it's not really appropriate to refer to the groove/style used by US jazz musicians by that name. So I say Afro 6, or Afro-Cuban 6/8.

The bell pattern and bass drum parts are correct for several Cuban 6/8 styles— the bass drum note on 2 corresponds to the “bombo” in Cuban music— the waltzy hihat part is not. The left hand parts independence patterns; they're not written to conform to any particular style. Try these with and without the circled bass drum note on 1 of the second measure. Here are the tom moves again— do 'em.

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