Chano Pozo

Chano Pozo was shot and killed on December 2, 1948, in the El Rio Bar at 111th St and Lenox Avenue in Harlem. The El Rio Bar no longer exists — even the small triangular block where it was located has been removed. Pozo's killer was a local bookie named Eusebio "Cabito" Munoz. Pozo is buried in the Colón Cemetery, Havana.

In 1947, he immigrated to the U.S. in search of a better life. He was encouraged to do so by Mario Bauza and his childhood friend Miguelito Valdes. It was Mario Bauza who introduced Chano to Dizzy Gillespie who was looking to include a conga player into his musical group.

In 1947 Pozo recorded what are considered the first commercial recordings of rumbas, cumbias, guaguancós and abakuá in the album Afrocubano Rhythm 1, 2, 3 and 4. Produced by Gabriel Oller for the Spanish Music Center (SMC) label the recordings featured Pozo, along with Carlos Vidal Bolado, Arsenio Rodríguez as well as Miguelito Valdés, Kiki Rodríguez (brother of Arsenio), and Puerto Rican bongero José Mangual Sr.

In September 1947, after Mario Bauzá introduced the two, he featured in Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band at Carnegie Hall and subsequently on a European tour. Their notable material includes "Cubana Be, Cubana Bop" (written by George Russell), and "Tin Tin Deo" and "Manteca", both co-written by Pozo.

Chano's reputation grew among the people each year, not only because of his physical prowess as a dancer, drummer, and success with women, but for the compositions he wrote for Carnival, during the nightly celebrations of which neighborhoods formed highly competitive comparsas, or street troupes. They consisted of singers, dancers, musicians, and the ever-present rumberos. Mostly young, street-toughened drummers, rumberos were integral to each comparsa (something like a 'jam club'), since rumberos provided throbbing, sensuous rhythms regarded as the base for all Afro-Cuban music. In a few years Pozo was the most well-known and sought after rumbero in Cuba, with the most talented comparsas (local groups) vying for his services, and was regularly winning top cash prizes for his compositions. Chano elevated the status and reputation of rumbero to near mythic proportions with his swaggering attitude as he led his own comparsa through the streets and with increasing successes became a hero to Havana's poor people. Pozo and some of his fellow musicians wrote a conga music composition that earned them first prize in the city of Santiago de Cuba's carnival of 1940: "La Comparsa de los Dandys," a composition that some consider an unofficial theme song of Santiago de Cuba, and a familiar standard at many Latin American carnivals.

Chano Pozo is one of a handful of Cuban percussionists who came to the United States in the 1940s and '50s. Other notable congueros who came to the U.S. during that time include Candido, Mongo Santamaría, Armando Peraza, Francisco Aguabella, Julito Collazo, Carlos Vidal Bolado, Desi Arnaz and Modesto Durán. Pozo moved to New York City in early 1947 with the encouragement of Miguelito Valdés, and participated in a recording session with Valdés, the legendary band leader Arsenio Rodríguez, Carlos Vidal Bolado and José Mangual, Sr..

Upon his release from Guanajay, Chano returned to his father's house in Havana. Cecelio persuaded his son to practice his trade of bootblack, but Chano's temperament was not suited for this occupation and he quit after less than a year. In 1929 he took a job selling newspapers for El País, Havana's most influential publication, hawking papers on a number of street corners. His forceful nature and success in selling brought him to the attention of newspaper owner and influential businessman Alfredo Suárez, who hired Chano as his personal driver and bodyguard. He was rumored to have performed duties as debt collector or "leg breaker" for Suarez. Chano spent his free time dancing, singing, fighting, chasing women and playing his drums. He also began to compose music.

Luciano Pozo González (January 7, 1915 – December 3, 1948), known professionally as Chano Pozo, was a Cuban jazz percussionist, singer, dancer, and composer. Despite only living to age 33, he played a major role in the founding of Latin jazz. He co-wrote some of Dizzy Gillespie's Latin-flavored compositions, such as "Manteca" and "Tin Tin Deo", and was the first Latin percussionist in Gillespie's band.