Machito
Founder of Machito and his Afro-Cubans — Machito (Frank Grillo) led the New York Latin band that pioneered Afro-Cuban jazz and was a dominant force at the Palladium Ballroom during the mambo era.
About
Born in Havana, Machito came to New York in the 1930s and founded his Afro-Cubans orchestra with his brother-in-law Mario Bauzá as musical director. The band was the first to explicitly combine Cuban Afro-Cuban rhythmic traditions with jazz harmonies and improvisation, creating what became known as Afro-Cuban jazz or Cubop.
Machito's band was the house band at the Palladium Ballroom during the mambo era, and he was one of the defining figures of New York Latin music. His recordings — from the early bebop-influenced experiments to the big mambo era hits — document the full development of the Afro-Cuban jazz tradition.
Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Mambo
In Cuban music, especially in salsa and son,
the "mambo" section typically refers to a brassy, rhythmically intense instrumental break,
often featuring repetitive horn lines, call-and-response patterns, and building energy toward the climax of a song.
The Casa de la Trova in Santiago de Cuba is the spiritual home of Cuban traditional music — Son, Bolero, Changüí, and Trova. Founded in 1968 on Calle Heredia in the heart of Santiago's historic center, it has been the gathering place for the city's musicians for over half a century.
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