Interesting Latin/Spanish-inspired Songs

For some reason I've been very interested in music inspired by Latin American and/or Spanish/Andalusian music. I've been mostly listening to jazz songs inspired by the aforementioned musical genres, but of course one could find music in any genre that draws on Spanish/Latin American influences. R&B, boogaloo, rock and roll, and classical music have continually drawn on Spanish and Latin American influences for over a century.

Here are some jazz songs that I love which are based on or influenced by Latin American/Spanish scales, folk musics, or traditions.

Bud Powell's Un Poco Loco
Features a Afro-Caribbean/Cuban inspired Max Roach drumming with pianist Powell

Bud Powell's recording of Night in Tunisia for the Amazing Bud Powell LP
Gotta love Max Roach's Cuban-inspired drumming. Skip the first part of the video for the recording of 'Tunisia'

Bud Powell's Cleopatra's Dream has a Latin-feel.

Art Blakey's Night in Tunisia has an extended drum solo that highlights the Cuban/African influences that inspired Dizzy Gillespie to compose the song in the first place.

Charles Mingus version of Summertime is a trio recording with Dannie Richmond on drums and pianist Hampton Hawes. Richmond's drum solo is very reminiscent of Max Roach's on Sonny Rollins' Saint Thomas from the latter's Saxophone Colossus LP.

Charlie Parker's My Little Suede Shoes is IMO the best of his Latin recordings. The adorable bongos and 'cute' melody have made this one of my favorite songs ever since hearing it performed live by a jazz trio in Milwaukee.

Dizzy Gillespie obviously has quite a few songs since he popularized the use of Latin/Afro-Cuban rhythms in bebop in the 1940s. Manteca, Tin Tin Deo and A Night in Tunisia are some of his more well-known Cuban-inspired songs.

Duke Ellington's Moon Over Cuba has always been a favorite of mine

Duke Ellington's trio recording with Max Roach on drums and Mingus on bass

Gil Scott-Heron's Western Sunrise and The Bottle also have Latin rhythms.

Gonzalo Rubalcaba, a contemporary Cuban jazz pianist, plays this tribute to his Cuban musical heritage. Prologo Comienzo often quotes The Peanut Vendor, one of Cuba's most famous songs

Horace Silver's Song for My Father is a famous hard-bop song with a Latin beat

Joe Chambers' The Almoravid is an interesting song that focuses on Afro-Cuban and African-inspired drumming.

Barney Bigard & His Jazzopaters have the first recording of Puerto-Rican Juan Tizol's Caravan. Bigard was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra in the 1930s and had recorded the composition in a small group before the entire Ellington Orchestra recorded it. Obviously the title evokes North Africa, the Sahara, and Middle Eastern themes.

Joe Henderson's Caribbean Fire Dance

John Coltrane has multiple songs influenced or inspired by Latin and Spanish music. Two of my favorites are Ole and Bahia.

Kenny Dorham's Afro-Cuban LP from the 1950s is another great Latin-inspired album. Afrodisiac and Basheer's Dream are two of my favorites from this session featuring a conga player and Art Blakey on drums.

Max Roach has quite a few songs influenced or inspired by Latin music, especially Cuban and Caribbean percussion and rhythms. Garvey's Ghost, Man from South Africa, Tears for Johannesburg, and All Africa are a few examples.

Miles Davis was also heavily influenced by Spanish and Latin music. His Sketches of Spain album with Gil Evans and the last song on Kind of Blue, Flamenco Sketches, demonstrate his interest in Spanish folk, flamenco and classical traditions. Some of my favorites of his are Flamenco Sketches, Saeta, Solea, The Pan Piper, and Teo.

Mongo Santamaria, the famous Cuban conguero, would of course record mostly Latin jazz. Some of my favorites include Afro Blue, Monte Adentro, and Onyae. Afro Blue became a jazz standard after John Coltrane recorded it in studio and at several live performances in the 1960s.

Sabu Martinez has a great modernized version of The Peanut Vendor/El Manisero featuring electric tres. El Cumbanchero aint bad either. Unfortunately I could only find a youtube link to the latter song.

Ornette Coleman's Una Muy Bonita is another Caribbean-inspired song. Very melodic and 'cute' like Charlie Parker's My Little Suede Shoes or St. Thomas by Sonny Rollins.

Pete La Roca's Malaguena perfectly captures the influence of Andalusian music. Basra is more Middle-Eastern but Andalusian music obviously is an amalgamation of North African, Middle Eastern, and European musical traditions itself. Thus, I shall also include Basra.

Sonny Rollins is widely known for the unforgettable melody of the Caribbean-sounding St. Thomas

Thelonious Monk's Bemsha Swing and Bye-Ya are known for their Afro-Caribbean/Cuban influences

Wayne Shorter's Tom Thumb

Lee Morgan's Sidewinder

Sun Ra's Moon Dance is a perfect African/Afro-Cuban influenced percussive song

Louis Armstrong's St. Louis Blues perfectly demonstrates the influence of Spanish and Caribbean rhythms in American music since the beginning of jazz. First written by W.C. Handy in 1914, St. Louis Blues uses Cuban rhythms.

Other recording of Saint Louis Blues by blues legend of the 1920s Bessie Smith

Charles Mingus's Tijuana Moods, recorded in 1957, beat both Miles Davis and Coltrane for an album inspired by Latin/Spanish themes. Ysabel's Table Dance and Tijuana Gift shop have flamenco and other Spanish influences that become apparent just after one listen.