Afro Blue is a jazz standard composed by Mongo Santamaría. The instrumental version was recorded in 1959 with the Cal Tjader Sextet, with the first performance on April 20, 1959 in Carmel, California. It is notable for being the first jazz standard built on a typical African 3:2 cross rhythm, or hemiola, featuring a bass ostinato of six cross-beats per measure of 12/8 while the four main beats are emphasized by solos - Paul Horn on flute and Emil Richards on marimba, with Francisco Aguabella on conga. The harmonic backbone is a simple B-flat pentatonic blues. Lyrics were added in 1959 by Oscar Brown; Abbey Lincoln recorded it on Abbey Is Blue (1959), and Brown included it on Sin & Soul (1960). John Coltrane recorded a landmark version in 1963 with Elvin Jones, swapping to a 3/4 swing feel (2:3) with two cross-beats per measure - this is one of the most studied cross rhythms in jazz. Other notable versions have been recorded by Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright, Roberta Flack, The Doors, McCoy Tyner, and many others.
