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Mambo
A Brief Mambo History
(By www.mambotutorials.com)
Mambo history takes us back to Cuba. It is a Latin dance of Cuban origin and music was created during the 1930's in Havana by Cuban musicians as Arsenio Rodriguez,Miguelito Cuni,Machito,Beny More and Israel Cachao. Though mambo is a distinctly Cuban style, its roots can be traced back to the European. Read on to know more on the mambo music history.
The very first mambo music was rarely intended for dancing and was a great deal based heavily on English and French ballroom dancing music. Early mambo was music for the sake of music, as mambo history reveals. It did carry inherent dance ability, but no dance had been doled out to it at that point of time and thrived as a piece of music alone.
It was in the 1940's when Damaso Perez Prado, a Cuban bandleader, began to specialize in the form. His version of the mambo music soon brought people to their feet and thus the famous mambo dance was born. Prado also introduced mambo music and dance to the United States. He made certain alterations to it so as to make it more commercial. By 1950’s, as the brief mambo history reflects, Americans were all ready to embrace Mambo. The dance soon became a big craze and Prado’s soon got famous as “Mambo King”.
Mambo music was heavily influenced by the Jazz musicians that the Italian-American gangsters, who ruled the Havana's casinos. They entertained their American customers with Mambo music and dance. Prado also moved his music to Mexico, where the original mambo dance was characterized by freedom and complicated foot-steps. Some well known Mexican entertainers often accompanied Prado in live presentations or were seen in Mexican films.
The original style of the mambo dance and music is still alive Cuba. Several dance studios in Mexico City teach the authentic Mambo dance and music. We hope you enjoyed the brief mambo music history.
Mario Bauza
Israel López Valdés, better known as Cachao, was a Cuban double bassist and composer. Cachao is widely known as the co-creator of the mambo and a master of the descarga. Throughout his career he also performed and recorded in a variety of music styles ranging from classical music to salsa.
Born: September 14, 1918, Old Havana
Died: March 22, 2008, Coral Gables, Florida, United States
Albums:Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature, Descargas Cubanas.
Movies: Cachao (Como su Ritmo No Hay Dos), Calle 54
Damaso Perez Prado
Benny More
Miguel Arcángel Conill Conill , better known as Miguelito Cuní born in
Pinar del Río/Cuba , May 8 , 1917
Die - Havana , March 13 , 1984 ,he was a Cuban music singer . It was one of the emblematic voices of the Cuban son in the 1940's and 1960's.
He was born in Pinar del Río, the westernmost province of the island of Cuba , in the bosom of a humble family. During his time at school he devoted himself to the exercise of minor trades to help with family support. In 1932, at the age of fifteen, he began as vocalist in the group "Los Carameleros". Shortly after, he was vocalist of the Septeto Lira, the Septeto Caridad and other groups of his province.
From 1938, already in Havana, he became part of Arsenio Rodríguez's ensemble, and also worked actively with the orchestras " Melodías del 40 " and Arcaño y sus Maravillas , making recordings and live performances and on the radio.
During the forties he developed an intense artistic life, lived two years in Panama and in 1949 he settled in New York, as director of the orchestra of the trumpeter Félix Chappottín.
He worked with icons of Cuban music such as Beny Moré and in 1956 he traveled to Caracas to work with the "Bárbaro del Ritmo" with the ensemble "La Tribu". In 1960 he returned to New York, where he made several presentations, including the famous "Palladium".
He returned to Cuba in 1966 where he founded his own group. He participated in the film "Nosotros, la música" and other documentaries.
He died on March 13, 1984 at the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital in the city of Havana.
Ruben
Gonzalez
The Origins Of Mambo
(From Wikipedia)
In the mid-1940's, bandleader devised a dance for a new form of music known as mambo music, taking its name from the 1938's song named Mambo 1980.Which had popularized a new form of Danzon known as Danzon Mambo. This rhythm was a syncopated and it was a less rigid form of the Danzón which allowed the dancers to more freely express themselves during the last section, known as the mambo section .
From Havana Pérez Prado moved his music to Mexico, where his music and the dance was adopted. The original mambo dance was characterized by freedom and complicated foot-steps. The mambo dance that was spearheaded by Pérez Prado and was popular in the 1940's and 50's in Cuba, Mexico and New York.It is completely different from the modern dance that New Yorkers now call "Mambo" and which is also known as Salsa "On 2". The original mambo dance contains no breaking steps or basic steps at all. The Cuban dance was not accepted by many professional dance teachers. Cuban dancers would describe mambo as "Feeling the music", in which sound and movement were merged through the body.Professional dance teachers in the US saw this approach to dancing as "Extreme", "Undisciplined", and thus deemed it necessary to standardize the dance to present it as a salable commodity for the social and ballroom market.
The modern mambo dance from New York was popularized in the late 1960's into the 1970's by George Vascones, president of a dance group known as the Latin Symbolics, from the Bronx, New York. George Vascones continued the Mambo dance tradition which started two decades earlier during the "Palladium era". It was followed in the 1980's by Eddie Torres, Angel Rodriguez of Razz M' Tazz Mambo Dance Company, and others, many of whom were 2nd generation New York Puerto Ricans. This style is sometimes danced to mambo music, but more often to salsa Dura (Old School Salsa). It is termed "Mambo on 2" because the break, or direction change, in the basic step occurs on count 2. The Eddie Torres and Razz M' Tazz schools each have different basic steps, even though they share this same basic feature. Eddie Torres describes his version as a "Street" style he developed out of what he saw on the Bronx streets. The Razz M' Tazz version is closer to the Palladium mambo (from the Palladium ballroom in the 1950's), whose basic step was in turn derived from Cuban son, with which it shares its timing
(2,3,4 - 6,7,8 with pauses on 1 and 5)
both styles derived from the American Mambo with the freestyle steps based on jazz and tap steps.
Dámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban bandleader, organist, pianist and composer who also made brief appearances in films. He is often referred to as the "King of the Mambo". He became known and professionally billed as Pérez Prado, his paternal and maternal surnames respectively.Wikipedia
Born: December 11, 1916, Matanzas, Cuba
Died: September 14, 1989, Mexico City, Mexico
Spouse: María Engracia Salinas (m. 1951–1976)
Albums: Voodoo Suite, Mambo En Sax, MORE
Nationality: Mexican, Cuban
Machito (born Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, February 16, 1908–April 19, 1984) was a Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music. He was raised in Havana with the singer Graciela, his foster sister.
In New York City, Machito formed the band the Afro-Cubans in 1940, and with Mario Bauzá as musical director, brought together Cuban rhythms and big band arrangements in one group. He made numerous recordings from the 1940's to the 1980's, many with Graciela as singer. Machito changed to a smaller ensemble format in 1975, touring Europe extensively. He brought his son and daughter into the band, and received a Grammy Award in 1983, one year before he died.
Machito's music had an effect on the lives of many musicians who played in the Afro-Cubans over the years, and on those who were attracted to Latin jazz after hearing him. George Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton credited Machito as an influence. An intersection in East Harlem is named "Machito Square" in his honor.
Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré, known as Benny Moré and Beny Moré, was a Cuban singer, bandleader and songwriter. Due to his fluid tenor voice and his great expressivity, he was known variously as El Bárbaro del Ritmo and El Sonero Mayor.
Born: August 24, 1919, Lajas, Cuba
Died: February 19, 1963, Havana, Cuba
Full name: Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez
Mario Bauzá was an Afro-Cuban jazz musician. He was one of the first to introduce Cuban music to the United States by bringing Cuban musical styles to the New York City jazz scene. Wikipedia
Born: April 28, 1911, Havana, Cuba
Died: July 11, 1993, New York City, New York, United States
Arsenio Rodríguez
Background information
Birth name Ignacio Arsenio Travieso Scull
Also known as El Ciego Maravilloso
Born August 31, 1911
Güira de Macurijes, Matanzas, Cuba
Died December 30, 1970 (aged 59)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
-
Musician bandleader,composer
Years active 1929-1970
Associated acts
In the 1940's and 1950's Rodríguez established the Conjunto format style and contributed to the development the Son montuno, the basic template of modern-day salsa. He claimed to be the true creator of the Mambo and was an important as well as a prolific composer who wrote nearly two hundred songs.
Despite being blind since the age of seven, Rodríguez quickly managed to become one of Cuba's foremost treseros. Nonetheless his first hit, "Bruca maniguá" by Orquesta Casino de la Playa, came as a songwriter in 1937. For the following two years, Rodríguez worked as composer and guest guitarrist for the Casino de la Playa, before forming his Conjunto in 1940, one of the first of its kind. After recording over a hundred songs for RCA Victor over the course of twelve years, Rodríguez moved to New York in 1952, where he remained active, releasing several albums. In 1970, Rodríguez moved to Los Angeles, where he died of pneumonia shortly before the end of the year.
Ruben González was one of the last of Cuba's great Afro-Cuban piano players. Although he had played and recorded with the band led by Enrique Jorrín, the creator of the Cha-Cha, for a quarter of a century, he had retired from music by the mid-80's. Things began to change when González recorded with the Afro-Cuban All Stars in 1996. The album, A Toda Cuba Le Gusta, released the following year, helped to inspire an international fascination for Afro-Cuban music and brought González to the attention of a global audience. His performance on the
Ry Cooder-produced album Buena Vista Social Club made him an international phenomenon. Signing a contract with Cooder' s label, World Circuit, González released his debut solo album, Introducing...Ruben Gonzalez, at the age of 78.
Showing great promise, as a pianist, from an early age, González graduated from the Cienfuegos Conservatoire in 1934. Although he briefly attended medical school, hoping to become a doctor, the lure of music proved insurmountable. Leaving school, González moved to Havana to become a full-time musician in 1941. After recording with influential multi-instrumentalist Arsenio Rodriguez, González joined Orchestra de los Hermanos, a group featuring Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria. Following an extended period in Panama and Argentina, during which he worked with tango musicians, he returned to Havana and played with a series of cabaret bands. In the early 60's, González joined Enrique Jorrín' s band, remaining with the group until Jorrín' s death. Although he assumed leadership of the band, González was forced, by arthritis, to announce his retirement. He maintained a low-key presence until 1996.
During his return however, González enjoyed the fame that was long overdue; he released two albums in the U.S, including 1997's Introducing... and 2000's Chanchullo. The octogenarian pianist died in December of 2003 in his home of Havana, Cuba.
Isora Club and Coralia López : To dance
Nothing in its current aspect makes us suppose that it was there where one of the temples of dance music in Cuba was for a long time. Only the great wooden door that gives way to the interior of the enclosure, seems to remember the age that it has, and that is there since then. Even so, it is overwhelming to know that many people, men and women, have turned their steps towards that place, which we venerate today, grateful for the sea of good music that they left us. Difficult to imagine today that that rickety door of the house marked with the number 720 Melones Street, in the middle of the block that escorted the Calyan de Luyanó and Commitment Street, in the Havana neighborhood of Luyanó, crossed the path to dancers and dancers and, of course, the musicians of the most famous orchestras, in what was one of the first and most famous recreational society of blacks and mulattoes: the Isora Club.
Photo on your left: The Iconic Cuban Isora Club. Its entrance door is still preserved.
Photo of the author (Year 2015 )
Constituted at the end of the thirties of the last century a few meters from the house of the Cachao , legendary family of Cuban musicians, the enthusiasm and dedication of its founder, Nando Padrón made the Isora Club quickly become one of the preferred sites of the dancers and that his fame remained for almost thirty years. At the beginning, Nando rented that spacious and well-ventilated house, which increased its value by having an adjacent plot of land within the property, and decided to register the Isora Club as an educational and recreational society. in the National Registry of Associations , where its existence is recorded as of October 19, 1941.
Clara Emelina Padrón Morales, daughter of Nando, was in 2015 an old woman very advanced in years, although her face denoted the features of a beauty incontestable past.The disease kept her immobilized in her bed, but when I asked her to tell me about the Isora Club , her gaze became lively, her voice firm and cheerful and remembrances worked the miracle: The Isora began to draw before my eyes. "My father put him that way because of the flowering tree of the same name - Isora - that was in front of the entrance. The house where the club was installed is the same, but now it has changed a lot ... it was rented by my parents for this purpose and then it happened to be their property. It consisted of the housing area, as such, and a side yard where the platform for the musicians, the tables and chairs, as well as the space for people to dance were placed. Inside, in that room next door - and point to the one that is located at the bottom of the current building - was where Pérez Prado rehearsed every day. Celia Cruz also came a lot. All came, and the orchestras that played here were the most popular of the moment: the so-called "Big Three": the Conjunto de Arsenio Rodríguez, the Orquesta Melodías de 40, Arcaño y sus Maravillas, in which Orestes López played, the first "Cachao." What was most danced in the Isora Club were danzones and even a danzón composed him in his honor! "
- Clara Emelina Padrón proudly
Luciano ''Chano'' Pozo
When America met Africa: Chano Pozo & Dizzy
MANTECA (Mario Bauza Latin Jazz Pioneer)
Latin Boogaloo
Is Here !
Boogaloo or bugalú (also: Shing-a-ling, Latin Boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960's. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among teenage Latinos. The style was a fusion of popular African American rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music with mambo and son montuno, with songs in both English and Spanish. The American Bandstand television program introduced the dance and the music to the mainstream American audience.
Stylistic origins :Soul , rhythm and blues, mambo,son cubano
Cultural origins 1960's, New York City
Regional scenes: New York City,Puerto Rico
In the 1950's and 60's, African Americans in the United States listened to various styles of music, including jump blues, R&B and Doo -wop. Latinos in New York City shared these tastes, but they also listened to genres like mambo or cha cha chá. There was a mixing of Puerto Ricans, Cubans and African Americans and others in clubs, whose bands tried to find common musical ground. Boogaloo was a result of this search, a marriage of many styles including Cuban son montuno, guaguancó, guajira, guaracha, mambo, and American R&B and soul.
Boogaloo has been called "The greatest potential that Cuban rhythms had to really cross over in terms of music" (Izzy Sanabria). Styles like Doo wop also left a sizable influence, through Tony Pabón (of Pete Rodríguez Band), Bobby Marín, King Nando, Johnny Colón and his vocalists Tony Rojas and Tito Ramos.
Though boogaloo did not become mainstream nationwide until later in the decade, two early Top 20 hits came in 1963: Mongo Santamaría 's cover version of the Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man"and Ray Barretto 's "El Watusi". Inspired by these two successes, a number of bands began imitating their infectious rhythms (which were Latinized R&B), intense conga rhythms and clever novelty lyrics. Boogaloo was the only Cuban-style rhythm which acquired English lyrics – some of the time. Established Cuban-influenced orchestras also recorded the occasional boogaloo, including Pérez Prado, Tito Rodríguez and Tito Puente. Most of the other groups were young musicians – some were teenagers – the Latin Souls, the Lat-Teens, Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers, Joe Bataan and the Latinaires.
Use of the term boogaloo in referring to a musical style was probably coined in about 1966 by Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz. The biggest boogaloo hit of the 60's was "Bang Bang" by the Joe Cuba Sextet, which sold over one million copies in 1966. "El Pito" was another hit by this popular combo. Hits by other groups included Johnny Colón 's "Boogaloo Blues", Pete Rodríguez's "I Like It like That", and Héctor Rivera's "At the Party".
The same year as Joe Cuba's pop success, 1966, saw the closing of New York City's Palladium Ballroom, when the venue, the home of big band mambo for years, lost its liquor license.The closing marked the end of mainstream mambo, and boogaloo ruled the Latin charts for several years before salsa began to take over. At the same time several other rhythmical inventions were going the rounds: the dengue, the Jala - Jala and the Shing-a-ling were all offshoots of the mambo and Cha Cha Chá.
The older generation of Latin musicians have been accused of using their influence to repress the young movement, for commercial reasons. There was certainly pressure on booking agents by the established bands.The craze was mostly over by 1970, perhaps because of the hostility of established bands and key booking agents; the reason is uncertain. Almost every major and minor Latin dance artist of the time had recorded at least a few boogaloos on their albums. It had been an intense, if brief, musical movement, and the music is still highly regarded today.
The Latin boogaloo bands were mostly led by young, sometimes even teenage musicians from New York's Puerto Rican community. These included, but weren’t limited to, Bataan, Cuba, Bobby Valentín, The Latin Souls, The Lat-Teens, Johnny Colón, Willie Colón and The Latinaires. As such, Latin boogaloo can be seen as "the first Nuyorican music" (René López), and has been called "the greatest potential that (Latinos) had to really cross over in terms of music" (Izzy Sanabria). However, Latino musicians and composers also made a big contribution to Doo-wop.
Latin boogaloo also spread throughout the wider Latin music world, especially in Puerto Rico, where top band El Gran Combo released many boogaloos. Latin music scenes in Peru, Colombia, Panama and elsewhere also embraced the boogaloo. Though the dance craze only lasted until 1968/69, Latin boogaloo was popular enough that almost every major and minor Latin dance artist of the time recorded at least a few boogaloos on their albums. That included boogaloos by long-time veteran, mambo-era musicians such as Eddie Palmieri and his "Ay Que Rico" or Tito Puente 's "Hit the Bongo".
The boogaloo faded from popularity by the end of 1969.What caused the fairly rapid end of the boogaloo's reign is in doubt. According to several sources, jealous older Latin music artists colluded with record labels (in particular, Fania Records), radio DJ's, and dance hall promoters to blacklist boogaloo bands from venues and radio. This scenario is explored in the 2016 film We Like It Like That, a documentary on the history of Latin boogaloo. Alternatively, it was a fad that had run out of steam.Its demise allowed older musicians to make a comeback on the New York scene. The explosive success of salsa in the early 1970's saw former giants like Puente and the Palmieri Brothers return to the top, while most Latin boogaloo bands went out of business (Joe Bataan and Willie Colón being two notable exceptions).
In Cali, Colombia, boogaloo, salsa and Pachanga are played by disk jockeys in FM and AM radio stations and dance clubs. The Caleños prefer their boogaloo sped up, from 33 to 45 RPM, to match the city's fast dance style. In recent years, the resurgent popularity of classic boogaloo has led to the formation of boogaloo revival bands, such as the Boogaloo Assassins in Los Angeles as well as "Spanglish Fly"and Ray Lugo & The Boogaloo Destroyers in New York. 2014 saw the release of Ray Lugo & The Boogaloo Destroyer's critically acclaimed second studio album, ¡Que Chevere!, which allowed the band to bring their classic-era boogaloo sound to audiences at prestigious North American and European music festivals, culminating in a performance at New York's Lincoln Center in the summer of 2015, where the group performed live with Boogaloo pioneers Pete Rodriguez, Richie Ray and Joe Bataan.That year also saw the release of Spanglish Fly's New York Boogaloo, perhaps the best example of the boogaloo revival and its mix of retro and forward-thinking musicians. In 2018, the band teamed up with Bataan, in a collaboration of the new and the old school, to release "New York Rules," first single for the album Ay Que Boogaloo.
Pete Rodriguez -trumpeter (Boogaloo Musician)
Not to be confused with the salsa singer, Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez or his son Pete Rodriguez.
Pete Rodríguez
Background information
Also known as"Pete Rodriguez y su Conjunto"
Born April 16, 1932 (age 86)
Bronx, New York
Genres Latin boogaloo
Occupation(s)Musician
Pete Rodriguez (born April 16, 1932) is the leader and pianist of a Latin boogaloo band from The Bronx in the mid-1960's, sometimes known as Pete Rodríguez y Su Conjunto. He was born in Bronx, New York to Puerto Rican parents.
The band's most successful song, "I Like It Like That"(1967), made it to the national Billboard charts and has since been covered several times including by the Blackout All-Stars.It was re-recorded by lead singer and composer Tony Pabón for the soundtrack of the 1994 movie I Like It Like That and received renewed exposure as the soundtrack to the main ident at Odeon Cinemas from 1998–2003.It was then sampled in the 2018 song, "I Like It" recorded by Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin. "I Like It Like That" was also used in film "Chef"(2014)
Pedro Juan Rodríguez Ferrer (January 31, 1933 – December 2, 2000), better known as Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez was a salsa singer born in Barrio Cantera,Ponce, Puerto Rico. His son, also named Pete Rodriguez, is also a salsa and jazz musician.
Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez was a percussionist who started playing bongos at the age of five. After working with local groups in Ponce, Puerto Rico, he moved to The Bronx during the 1950's. While singing and playing the congas in a Bronx bar, he was spotted by legendary bandleader Johnny Pacheco. His first album was titled Suavito, which was released in 1963.
Just a year later in 1964, Pacheco and his lawyer Jerry Masucci founded The Fania All-Stars, a combination of the best Latin singers and musicians at that time. Pete's first album under the Fania label was Canonazo. Between 1964 and 1973, Rodriguez and Pacheco recorded seven albums including La Perfecta Combinacion (1970), Los Compadres (1971), and Tres De Cafe Y Dos De Azucar (1973).
In 1974, Rodríguez left the Fania All-Stars and concentrated on a successful solo career. His solo debut album El Conde (1974) was an award winner. His 1976 album Este Negro Si Es Sabroso was rated ninth in best Salsa records at that time. That album featured one of his most popular songs, "Catalina La O".
During the 1980's, with the Fania All-Stars on the verge of disbanding, Rodriguez reunited with Johnny Pacheco and recorded four more albums between 1983 and 1989. Their 1987 album Salsobita was nominated for a Grammy. By 1990, he went solo again.
Pete "El Conde" Rodríguez only recorded two albums in the 1990's with one of his hit songs "Esos Tus Ojos Negros" being released in 1993. By 2000, he was hired by Tito Puente to provide lead vocals for a tribute to the late bolero singer Benny Moré. However, the album was released posthumously because Puente died on May 31, 2000. Rodriguez also had a heart ailment, but he refused to undergo bypass surgery as Puente did. On December 2, 2000, Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 68.
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