Wednesday, 01 June 2011 12:53
Luciano Pozo González
Luciano Pozo González, internationally known in the Jazz world as Chano, was born in Havana on 7 January, 1915. Black and with very coarse features, bad looking according to some counts, Chano, as described by those who knew him, was a physically large, but short person; in the images remaining of this Virgin of Santa Barbara devotee, he generally looks very cheerful.
Like Benny Moré and other such musical geniuses on the island, Chano was completely illiterate in music and trained as a percussionist through various Havanian groups. Neither was he born even remotely wealthy, and made his living as a shoeshine boy and selling newspapers on the street. Chano suffered from racial discrimination in Cuba and the US, the country where he triumphed with his vibrant and unique way of beating the skins of bongos or congas. Following Don Fernando Ortiz´s successful run, Chano "interjected into North American Jazz with a new and vigorous energy." He played a decisive role in one of the most significant shocks taking place in Jazz: Bop.
Chano succeeded not only as an instrumentalist, but also as a composer for numerous people such as Pin Pin, Nagüe and the very famous Menteca, who earned Chano fame and fortune. He also joined Dizzy Gillespie´s fabulous band, in which Gillespie describe Chano in a few words as, "The greatest drummer I´ve heard in my life."
His death at 33 in New York´s Harlem River was never quite clear. The most accepted version says it was caused by a debt reclaim for $15 USD—paradoxically affirming that Chano Pozo wasn´t a man who cared about 15 dollars; however, it is rumored that in the heel of his left shoe, Chano had one thousand dollars hidden. What is certain though, is that he died on the impact of six bullets to his chest, fired by another Cuban, Eusebio Muñoz.
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