Afro-Cuban and Latin Jazz Compositions

This thesis examines the challenges in musical compositions in Latin jazz styles. The challenges include writing music with different Afro-Cuban rhythms as well as the use of the clave as a backbeat to the melodic ideas. Also, it explores different harmonic and melodic approaches used in a composition and stylistic ideas reflected in jazz styles. For each piece, the composer makes use of different instrumentations and ensemble types. The methodology was to compose seven original songs for small jazz ensembles, and also to analyze the results. For each composition, the author describes his melodic and harmonic approach and the different rhythmic accompaniments. The result of this work is the creation of songs that provide a practical illustration of the different rhythmic patterns and compositional techniques.