Cross-cultural Cadance: How Puerto Ricans Shaped the American sound, 1920 - 1947
by Dr. Jose E. Guzman Borrero
This paper was delivered at the 2026 Society of America Conference as part of the Micro-histories from the Margins: Alternative Accounts of American Music in California, Puerto Rico, and China panel alongside Dr. Charissa Noble, Elad Sobol, and chaired by Dr. Benjamin Barson.
This project weaves the work of journalists, historians, and academics to address the paper’s two fold subject: what is American Music? And, what is Puerto Rico’s place in it? Acknowledging the history of where things come from, its legacy, is the beauty of the melting pot culture.
Today I will examine the period of 1920 -1947, during the period of hot jazz, the rise of musical theatre, prototype ensembles, and evolving arranging technique. This survey documents musicians that took a leap into a new country and a marketplace performing with young artists that became major figures of American music. This period is an intersection for jazz and its adjacent genre, Tin Pan Alley. The relationship between both was symbiotic with composers and arrangers applying jazz techniques and articulations into Tin Pan Alley productions while jazz musicians explored these songs as a canvases in which to further harmonic and melodic possibilities(footnote contrafact definition).
The initial contact of Puerto Ricans with the first manifestations of jazz is the result of the United States invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898. With the arrival of the US troops, their customs and music also arrived. Before 1898, Puerto Rico had been a colony of the Spanish crown since 1492 and developed the core Puerto Rico values and musical traditions. Minimizing Jelly Roll's comment that jazz tunes require a “Latin tinge” to just mean the habanera bassline is dismissing four hundred and six years of cultural foundation and artistic preparation that filled the seats of the most important orchestras and Tin Pan Alley productions. Municipal leaders pushed an arts agenda that included arts focused high schools or institutions at an affordable cost, a history of funding and organizing municipal bands at the different towns in Puerto Rico. These orchestras kept their musical offer of danzas, plenas, zarzuelas, operettas, and genres from Latin America (footnote Boricua Jazz). But as the US military made its way into the island, they began to include repertoire styles heard from the military bands, such as ragtime. Eventually jazz groups would begin to emerge in towns around the island such as the Yauco Jazz Band. Similarly, many of the famous Harlem Hellfighters (who brought jazz to Europe) were recruited specifically from Puerto Rico because of the island's high standard of musical education. They were able to read music at a high level, play multiple instruments, and had been exposed to a wide range of Spanish genres that would spice up Tin Pan Alley productions (footnote New York State Music article). Yet, many jazz textbooks mention the Hellfighters without mentioning that a significant portion of the band was Puerto Rican (how many on Victor recordings?).
The Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917 granted US citizenship to Puerto Ricans, which led to a surge of Puerto Ricans immigrating to the US, especially to New York through Ellis Island. Many Puerto Rican musicians were recruited, due to their talent and ability to read music, to play in jazz clubs and theater pit bands in Washington D.C. and New York, primarily catering to black audiences. At the same time elsewhere in the country, the migration of Puerto Ricans to cities such as New Orleans was either a destination or an abrupt stop on their journey to work sugar plantations in Hawaii (footnote SFExaminer).
The experiences of Puerto Rican immigrants during this time are often characterized by poverty, hardship, and racial discrimination. It is important that this is not overlooked, especially when considering the vital role that Puerto Rican jazz musicians contributed to the cultural production of an American genre.
A question that could arise when approaching the topic is: should a sideman/session musician be recognized for their part in music history? The answer is yes. Sidemen often collaborate with artists throughout their careers, creating connections that can span years or even decades. Their ability to adapt and listen intently makes them invaluable; they are often described as those who truly understand what it means to support another artist's vision while still showcasing their unique talents. During this period of jazz, it was common for arrangers to write music highlighting a soloist in the band. If the bandleader wasn't the arranger himself, the arranger was another member of the band. The arrangements for Fletcher Henderson’s band were written by saxophonist Don Redman and among the collection of recordings of the era one can find featuring Louis Armstrong in “Tell me Dreamy Eyes” in 1924 or Coleman Hawkins in “The Stampede” in 1926. But other partnerships had rather controversial endings. Jazz trumpeter Terry Clark said that Duke Ellington would compile band members' ideas, “fix” the ideas, and “write something of what could’ve been nothing”, a positive spin on what other Ellington band members said was exploitative, as they were often uncredited and not paid royalties.(footnote Folayhoag).
Puerto Rican contribution in early jazz and its adjacent genre, Tin Pan Alley, is ignored not because it doesn't fit the "New Orleans-to-Chicago" jazz origin story, but because there was an expectation of assimilation into “Americanness.” Past research overlooks or doesn't consider Puerto Rican as an identity until the 1960s due to a complicated political backdrop of gag laws and several violent incidents in the island with nationalist parties. (footnote Jorrell’s book chapter 18.) It wasn’t until the plebiscite of 1954 under US President Harry Truman where Puerto Rico achieved its commonwealth status. The migration to the city of New York by 1952 alone was 52,000 people (footnote clara) and this led to the birth of the Puerto Rican Studies curriculum in New York City universities in 1969.(footnote clara). This brought into focus the history of the island, documentation of the migration experience, and its issues as a colony of the US.
This work looks to highlight several artists (or familiar ties) to figures that stand out in the Puerto Rican lore and songbook that carves out our identity.
One of the first cases of musicians arriving in the United States occurred during the First World War in 1917, when the African-American Lieutenant of the Army’s 369th Regiment, and renowned musician in New York, James Reese Europe, arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico and recruited more than a dozen musicians directly from the San Juan Municipal Orchestra led by Manuel Tizol. What should be noted early on is that the Hellfighters’ band was not the first time James Reese Europe had worked with Latino musicians. As early as 1912 bassist and tuba player Rafael Escudero (1891-1970) played in his Clef Club Orchestra and Europe’s Syncopated Society Orchestra also contained several Puerto Rican musicians. So, it was of no surprise to many of Europe’s peers when he decided to recruit musicians from the island to fill out the sound of the Hellfighters’ band. The eighteen musicians that arrived in New York in 1917 to join the 15th Regiment were highly skilled and played more than one instrument. These musicians, among them, the composer Rafael Hernández, will make up one of the best orchestras in the United States Army, and were responsible for introducing jazz to Europe, specifically to France. Upon his return to New York in 1919, Rafael Hernández participated with this orchestra in one of the first recordings in the history of jazz.
Figure 1) A screenshot of Elena Martinez’s work for The Journal of New York Folkore. This screenshot shows the names of all eighteen Puerto Rican musicians in James Reese Europe’s Harlem Hellfighters.
Rafael Hernandez
Considered to be the most important musical figure in Puerto Rican folklore is the aforementioned Rafael Hernandez, El Jibarito (footnote Fundación). With over 3,000 compositions crossing the genres of boleros, guaracha, and danza, Rafael's lyrics painted the Puerto Rican identity that has transcended generations. As mentioned above, Rafael went on to be a part of the Hellfighters, was among the musicians to take jazz to Europe with James Reese Europe, and was a part of several historical recordings by the Hellfighters. Born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico on October 24th, 1892, Rafael played trombone, violin, guitar, and piano. After serving in the military, Rafael stayed in New York City and went on to organize his own groups, worked as a sideman in the Latino community, and recorded several of his own compositions under the administrative team of his siblings. Among his most famous works are “Lamento Borincano”, “El Cumbanchero”, “Campanitas de cristal”, and “Perfume de gardenias”. Rafael's tenure in Europe's military band was a precious training ground that allowed him to grow into a mature musician and surely must have influenced his compositional style.
The job market for Puerto Rican musicians and their experience doubling instruments in pit orchestras such as the Howard Theater in Washington DC was valuable to African American composers and producers. An example of this interaction (REWORD) is the pit orchestra for Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake’s Shuffle Along. The orchestral pit was famously headed by William Grant Still, known by many as the Dean of African American Composers. The pit also featured several musicians from Puerto Rico, who previously were frequently prohibited from playing in white orchestras. Their presence added to the unique genre fusion of Shuffle Along’s songs and the syncopated rhythms of the music(footnote NYSMusic).
In the 1920s, the pit orchestra of the legendary Howard Theater in D.C. was almost entirely Puerto Rican(footnote). According to Eubie Blake in an interview, “musicians would get paid extra for doubling.” In Puerto Rico, middle and high class families had access to instruments, music lessons, and in some families cases second or 3rd generation members of the municipal wind ensemble (retretas)(footnote Boricua Jazz). A brief overview at Wilbert Sostre’s Boricua Jazz book, one can find that most Puerto Rican musicians from this time were multi-instrumentalist.
It’s important to note that while Shuffle Along was an all-Black production, it was also a watershed moment for the city’s Puerto Rican population, as several musicians who played in the show’s orchestra were skilled zarzuela musicians. Having Puerto Ricans in the pit was a win for everyone; Eubie Blake had incredibly gifted musicians who could add their cultural flair to his score and the Puerto Rican musicians, who were prohibited from playing in white orchestras, were granted an opportunity to showcase their talents while earning a decent living too. (footnote Lincoln Center website) Among those Puerto Ricans were Juan Tizol on valve trombone, Francisco Tizol on cello, Carmelo Jari, Ralph Duchesne, Ramon Moncho Usera on reeds, and the previously mentioned bassist and tuba player, Rafael Escudero.
Rafael Escudero
Born on July 16th, 1891 in the northern coastal town of Manati, Puerto Rico. Escudero arrived in Ellis Island in June 1912 to play professionally under the auspices of the New Amsterdam Musical Association. Rafael (also credited as Ralph and Bob) took on several jobs in theaters in NY before enlisting for WWI. Escudero was not a part of James Reese Europe's 369th Hellfighters, moved to Washington DC in 1920 working on Howard Theater under Marie Lucas. Among the shows Escudero performed in, he was Sissle's Shuffle Along. He played alongside drummer Sonny Greer in the Howard Theater and played with a young Duke Ellington in Wilbur C Sweatman's band in the Lafayette Theater in 1923. (footnote Mark Tucker) Greer and Duke went on to have a 30 year partnership in the Ellington Orchestra.
Figure 2) Image from Mark Tucker’s Ellington: The Early Years. page 83
Fletcher Henderson heard Escudero played tuba while working at the Howard Theater and extended an offer to be in his band(footnote FHenderson book). Escudero was a part of Henderson's band for 3 years, sharing the stage with Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong (POINT OUT IN PHOTO), (insert members) among several others. According to Eugene Chadbourne, the bands would perform “challenging arrangements and the leaders depended on players who could swing with an accurate sense of time, such as Escudero…” Gunther Schuller heralded Escudero’s playing as a stalwart among his contemporaries in his book Development of Early Jazz 1930 to 1947(footnote).
Henderson's band laid the groundwork for the development of big band jazz. Redman and Henderson pioneered a sophisticated orchestration style based on the interactivity of the four sections of the orchestra along with space for unique expressive soloists like Louis Armstrong. Henderson was among the first to land a contract to play at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City in the mid 1920s. Ballrooms were absolutely critical to the Big Band era (1930s–1940s), acting as the primary venue for live performances, cultural hubs for dancing (especially the Lindy Hop), and, via radio broadcasts, the main way the public discovered new swing music.
Figure 3) Image from Jeffrey Magee’s The Uncrowned King of Swing: Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz, page 329
Iconic locations like the Savoy Ballroom and Roseland Ballroom served as the center of the swing scene(footnote to big apple jazz or acoustic music website or Ted Gioa’s book). Henderson’s band also served as the prototype for Duke Ellington. Hendersons music was arranged by Don Redman, who in 1927 left to lead the McKinney’s Cotton Pickers in Detroit(footnote to Syncopated times) and Escudero followed Redman. After the Ballroom era dissipated, Rafael returned home where he participated in several orchestras and recorded the early works of his nephew, Rafi Escudero. Rafi went on to become an important composer of Puerto Rican danza (danza puertorriqueña in Spanish) with several works in the popular songbook of Puerto Rican folklore.
Figure 4) Image from Jeffrey Magee’s The Uncrowned King of Swing: Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz, page 328
The Tizol's
The Tizol family name can be found in Puerto Rico as musicians, politicians, and medicine practice. Amongst the Tizol family ensembles, archives are found of the Octeto Tizol, formed by Manuel Tizol, with Joaquín Burset, Rafael Márques, Francisco Tizol, Manolo Tizol, Pedro Gil, Julián Andino, Germán Arguinsoni, Enrique Díaz y Sergio Lecompte.
Figure 5) Archive photo of the Octeto Tizol
Manuel Tizol Marquez is a highly respected instrumentalist, arranger, composer, professor, and conductor Manuel Tizol Marquez was born on December 30, 1876 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Much of its bands and orchestras started in 1913 leading to the creation of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in 1926(footnote). Manuel was also a pedagogue, giving lessons to young students such as his nephew, Juan Tizol.
Juan Tizol's cousin, Francisco Tizol, performed with Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle on Shuffle Along. He was the son of a distinguished island government leader, José de Jesús Tizol. Paco Tizol left the jazz scene to play more often in Latín American venues in the rapidly growing Latin community of New York. At one point he joined a band led by the great Rafael Hernández and that resulted in a series of recordings that are available today from World Records.
In 1920, the Puerto Rican trombonist Juan Tizol (nephew of Manuel Tizol) arrived in Washington DC to work in the Howard Theater Orchestra. In Washington DC, Tizol met the pianist Duke Ellington, who invited him to New York in 1930 to participate in several shows at the Cotton Club. Tizol became part of the Ellington orchestra and wrote multiple compositions for the orchestra, including some that would eventually become jazz standards; “Caravan” and “Perdido”(footnote). Some consider these and other Tizol compositions the first manifestations of Latin Jazz, years before the collaboration between trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo. Juan describes his experience moving to the United States in 1920, working factory jobs in New York in order to save enough money to buy an instrument and make a living. Juan Tizol played trombone in Duke Ellington’s Big Band from 1929 to 1953.
Figure 6) The Tizols: left to right, Juan Tizol, Manuel Tizol Marquez, Antonio Tizol
“Caravan”, composed by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington, is the most covered jazz standard in history, with more than 500 covers(footnote). Among the other tunes that Juan Tizol composed for Ellington’s orchestra was “Perdido”, “Moon Over Cuba”, and “Moonlight Fiesta.” Tizol also helped out Ellington by organizing the music and taking over copyist duties for trumpets, trombone, and saxes. After the aforementioned controversy of Ellington’s bandmembers exploitatively threatened to end the orchestra, several members of the Ellington band approached Juan Tizol to start his own orchestra. But Juan never liked to stir controversy, or in this case offend Duke after being provided an opportunity to be a part of his band, Juan decided against this and stayed out of the jazz scene. (footnote)
Conclusion
At a time when multiculturalism is seen as a threat, this project argues that there is strength in multiculturalism when it comes to building an identity. The result of this identity was laid out a hundred years ago as the foundation of what has become the “American entertainment industry.” Ruth Glasser points out that Latin music has always been kept as a subculture that perked up once in a while.
The recent controversy surrounding Bad Bunny's Super Bowl Halftime performance and whether Puerto Ricans had any part of the United States history is when we should remember that our combined efforts a hundred years ago has led us to have a halftime show in the first place. The discussions of what it means to perform "American music" for an "American audience" in an "American sporting event,” which also has Puerto Rican athletes with Isiah Pacheco (Kansas Chief for Super Bowl LVII and LVIII) and Federico Maranges (Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl LX), we would do well to remember this history. From Latin Boogaloo to Fania to contemporary Latin pop extending from Ricky Martin to Lin Manuel Miranda, and yes, Bad Bunny too, Puerto Rican music is American music, and American music owes much to Puerto Rican musicians.
Bibliography:
Books:
Boricua Jazz - Wil Sostre
Tucker, Mark. Ellington the early years, University of Illinois Press. 1991.
Schuller, Gunther The swing era: the development of jazz, 1930-1945, Oxford University Press. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, c1989.
Latin Jazz History - John Storm Roberts
Latin tinge - the impact of Latin American Music on the United States - John Storm Roberts
Puerto Rican Pioneers in Jazz, 1900–1939: Bomba Beats to Latin Jazz
Puerto Ricans in the Harlem Renaissance
The Uncrowned King of Swing: Fletcher Henderson and his big band
Websites:
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ralph-escudero-mn0000116966#biography
https://www.archivoicp.com/grabaciones-principios-siglo-xx
https://bigapplejazz.com/2025/10/15/savoy-ballroom-jazz-legacy/
https://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/featured-interview-silent-partners/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/27/opinions/duke-ellington-a-true-genius-miller
https://deadspin.com/exploitation-was-duke-ellingtons-true-genius-1507259263/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Amsterdam_Musical_Association
Jazzdelapeña - substack
https://loslatidosdeljazz.com/los-musicos-de-duke-ellington-ii-juan-tizol/
https://www.salsaforums.com/threads/interview-with-jose-madera-on-percussion.42604/
https://syncopatedtimes.com/don-redman-1900-1964/
https://syncopatedtimes.com/noble-sissle-and-his-orchestra/
https://sfexaminer.newspapers.com/newspage/459279948/
https://www.unionstagepresents.com/the-howard/our-story
Interviews:
Vicente Toledo - director Fundacion Nacional para la Cultura Popular (Feb 20, 2026)
Library Archive:
https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/61531/
Journals:
Basilio Serrano. JUAN TIZOL: HIS TALENTS, HIS COLLABORATORS, HIS LEGACY
Centro Journal, fall, año/vol. XVIII, número 002. City University of New York. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños. New York, Latinoamericanistas pp. 83-99. Accessed 12 Dec. 2025.
Glasser, Ruth. “Paradoxical Ethnicity: Puerto Rican Musicians in Post World War I New York City.” Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamerica, Spring - Summer, 1990, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Spring - Summer, 1990), pp. 63-72. Accessed 25 Nov. 2026.
Hoffnung-Garskof, Jesse. “The Migrations of Arturo Schomburg: On Being Antillano, Negro, and Puerto Rican in New York 1891-1938.” Journal of American Ethnic History, vol. 21, no. 1, 2001, pp. 3–49. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27502778. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
King, Bobbi, et al. “A Legend in His Own Lifetime.” The Black Perspective in Music, vol. 1, no. 2, 1973, pp. 151–56. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1214451. Accessed 8 Mar. 2026.
Martinez, Elena. “Rafael Hernandez and the Puerto Rican Legacy of the 369th Regiment’s Harlem Hellfighters” The Journal of New York Folklore, vol. 40, no. 1-2, 2014, pp. 3-12. Accessed 12 Dec. 2025.
Rodriguez, Clara E. “Puerto Rican Studies.” American Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 3, 1990, pp. 437–55. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2712942. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.