April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003

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Flautist and tenor saxophonist Herbert Jay Solomon, known by his stage name “Herbie Mann”, was born April 16, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York.

A State Department sponsored tour of Africa opened his ears to different musics around the world which became his passion leading him to explore Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music.

In the 1950s Herbie Mann was a bop flutist who occasionally played tenor saxophone.

The experience inspired him to record an album of Afro-Cuban jazz titled Flutista, staking his claim as an early pioneer of World Music.

After a subsequent pilgrimage to Brazil in 1961, back in the States he performed with Brazilian musicians Antonio Carlos Jobim and Baden Powell.

He hired a young Chick Corea to play in his bands during the mid-1960s, performing at New York clubs including the Village Gate and Bottom Line.

On of his best-selling albums, Memphis Underground, was issued in 1969.

In the 1970s he released a number of disco flavored albums to keep his career afloat during a period of declining interest in jazz. They featured top artists of the day Cissy Houston, Larry Coryell, Duane Allman, and Donald “Duck” Dunn.

Herbie Mann’s final public appearance was at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on May 3, 2003, two months before his death.

Herbie Mann is featured at the 1994 Bern Jazz Festival.

Personnel:

Herbie Mann, flute
Cornell Dupree, guitar
Les McCann, piano
Chuck Rainey, bass
Ricky Sebastian, drums

Jazz on the Tube has an entire section devoted Cuba and its music.

Details here: Jazz on the Tube – Cuba

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