Eddie Cano

Pianist Eddie Cano devoted the bulk of his professional life to bridging jazz and Latin idioms. During the 1950s and 1960s he issued a series of recordings under his own name on Atco, Reprise, and RCA that attracted a following comparable to that enjoyed by vibraphonist Cal Tjader and bandleader Les Baxter. To boost these projects he frequently invoked popular dance trends such as the cha cha and the Watusi. Music ran deep in his lineage: his father played bass guitar while his grandfather performed with the Mexico City Symphony. Cano received instruction on bass from both his grandfather and private tutors, and he also took up piano and trombone. After serving two years in the Army beginning in 1945, he started appearing on stage with a unit directed by Miguelito Valdés.

A lasting association soon developed with vocalist Herb Jeffries, whose specialty lay in ballads and with whom Cano would work intermittently across the ensuing ten years. Although he had begun leading his own groups by 1948, Cano maintained sideman roles with Jeffries, Bobby Ramos, and Tony Martinez. As a writer he produced an extensive catalog that encompassed the savory “Algo Sabroso,” the amiable “Cal’s Pals,” the undulating “Watusi Walk,” the gripping “Ecstasy,” and “Honey Do,” a track that might be viewed as a cross-genre rejoinder to Carl Perkins’ well-known “Honey Don’t.” While many contemporaries stressed the driving force of Latin rhythms, Cano retained that element yet placed equal weight on the intricate, challenging harmonic and melodic frameworks characteristic of modern jazz.