Israel "Cachao" López
One of the most important figures in Cuban music — Israel "Cachao" López co-created the mambo"> mambo, invented the Cuban descarga (jam session), and defined what the bass could do in Cuban dance music for the next 60 years.
About
Cachao came from a family of classical musicians — he himself played double bass in the Havana Philharmonic. But his greatest contributions were in popular music. Together with his brother Orestes López, he developed the danzón-mambo in the 1930s and 1940s while working with Arcaño y sus Maravillas — adding a new, syncopated final section to the danzón that became the template for what Pérez Prado would later internationalize as mambo"> mambo.
Cachao also pioneered the Cuban descarga — informal recording sessions where musicians improvised freely, creating what was effectively a Cuban jazz tradition. His bass playing introduced low-end patterns (tumbaos) that became standard vocabulary for every bassist in Cuban popular music. After years of obscurity in Miami, he was rediscovered in the 1990s and recorded extensively until his death at 89.
Danzón was the first national dance of Cuba — the form that unified the island's popular music identity in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the ancestor of mambo"> mambo, cha-cha-chá, and ultimately timba"> timba.
Lees meer >Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and matanzas"> Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Mambo was Cuba's first global music explosion — the form that put Cuban rhythms on dance floors from New York to Tokyo in the late 1940s and 1950s, and the direct ancestor of the Latin big band sound.
Lees meer >EGREM (Empresa de Grabaciones y Ediciones Musicales) is Cuba's state recording company, founded in 1964 after the Revolution nationalized all private recording labels. Its main facility, Estudios Areíto in Havana, is where virtually every important Cuban recording from the Revolution era was made.
Lees meer >Timba, the explosive and rhythmically rich genre of Cuban dance music, transformed how the bass functions in popular music. In timba"> Timba, the bass is not just foundational — it’s fiery, funky, and free.
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.
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.