"Manteca" is one of the earliest foundational tunes of Afro-Cuban jazz. Co-written by Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo and Gil Fuller in 1947, it is among the most famous of Gillespie's recordings and is "one of the most important records ever made in the United States. "Manteca" is the first tune rhythmically based on the clave to become a jazz standard, and signified one of the beginning steps on the road from Afro-Cuban rhythms to Latin jazz. Gillespie was interested in the complex rhythms played