SFPL: Presentation: John Santos and The Afro-Roots of Latin Jazz and Salsa

John Santos, seven-time Grammy-nominated percussionist and SF Jazz Resident Artistic Director, explores how Blackness is an essential element in the American musical forms known as Latin Jazz and Salsa. Through visual and audio examples, this brief lecture will provide a snapshot of the African roots of Latin Jazz and Salsa, two American musical genres (in the true sense of the word ‘American.’) that have garnered international popularity in the last 50-75 years.