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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZMAMBOAn important Afro-Cuban rhythm which became a world-wide fad in the 1950s. Its origin was somewhat contentious, inventors usually cited including Orestes 'Macho' Lopez, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and his older brother, bassist Israel 'Cachao' Lopez (see his entry); Antonio Arcaño (flautist and bandleader, 1911-94); and Arsenio Rodríguez and Pérez Prado (see their entries). Various authorities regard Orestes Lopez's danzón 'Mambo' '38, composed while a member of Arcaño y sus Maravillas, as the earliest example of the rhythm. Orestes credited Arcaño with assisting him: 'When I played it for him, he blew flute montunos [improvisations] I had never heard before. His floreos [ad-libs] are what enhanced my mambo' (interviewed by Erena Hernández '79). Arcaño returned the compliment: 'I am fortunate to know Orestes Lopez, author and creator of the mambo ... he developed a mambo-oriented style in the last section of the danzón. That is how the ritmo nuevo [new rhythm] was born, and I felt inspired by the foundation he gave me' (interviewed by Luis Tamargo and Emilio Vanenedes, Latin Beat magazine '93). Some argue that Arsenio's 'el diablo' [the devil] rhythm, which he later called son montuno, was synonymous with mambo; however his trumpeter Benetin Bustillo admitted that it was his copying of Arcaño's flute riffs which stimulated Arsenio to conceive the son montuno. It's thought that Prado adopted the name 'mambo', already prevalent in Cuba because of Arcaño's flute and strings-led danzon-mambo sound, for a variant for his brass-and-sax jazz-type band. Cachao told Max Salazar, 'Prado's mambo is different to my brother's mambo ... Arcaño y sus Maravillas were the first to play the mambo ... we played it before Arsenio's diablo and we did it over the radio' (quoted in Latin Beat '91). But Cachao later added, 'Our gratitude to Pérez Prado is eternal because if it wasn't for him, the mambo wouldn't be known around the world' (interviewed by Tamargo, Latin Beat '94). By the time bassist Cachao Lopez died in 2008, he had been one of the most influential musicians of his era, and was given most of the credit for inventing the mambo. He and his brother may have written over 2,000 tunes while working for Arcaño; they extended and accelerated the final section of the stately Cuban danzón: 'My brother and I would say to each other, "Mambea, mambea ahí," which meant to add swing to that part,' he said in interviews with The Miami Herald. It was a failure in 1937, he said, because it was too fast for dancing. 'People didn’t like it. When we slowed it down, then it became danceable.' It became a national dance fad in the USA in the '50s until supplanted by the cha cha chá, which was easier for white musicians to adapt and for Americans to dance to, but the mambo had more influence on Latin music in the long run. The most successful mambo bands included those of Machito, Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Noro Morales, Beny Mor‚ and Prado. Oscar Hijuelos's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel paid its tribute: The Mambo Kings Play Songs Of Love '89 was filmed as The Mambo Kings '92. |