Resumen de In Praise of Older Drummers: The Cuban Creators of Latin Jazz. A Review of Raul A. Fernandez's From Afro-Cuban Rhythms to Latin Jazz (Berkeley: U of California P, 2006)

Kevin M. Delgado

• Raul Fernandez is Professor of Social Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. While trained in political economy, the Cuban-born Fernandez is extremely well positioned to study Latin jazz through his lifelong interaction with Cuban music, first as a fan, then as a musician, and finally as a scholar. Significantly, in addition to his decades of interaction with the subject matter, Fernandez’s expertise led to his recruitment by the Smithsonian Institution to conduct oral histories for its Jazz and Latino Music Oral History Programs. Fernandez interviewed over a dozen Latin jazz, Cuban, and salsa musicians on behalf of the Smithsonian, providing him invaluable access to major artists in these fields. His work resulted in Fernandez’s appointment as curator of an excellent traveling Smithsonian exhibit Latin jazz: La combinación perfecta (2002–2006). He also produced an outstanding companion compact disc and authored a bilingual exhibit book (2002), a dazzling work that includes over 150 photographs.