Tag Archives: Mambo

Mambo’s enduring appeal

The mambo is characterized by short, syncopated rhythmic patterns–the saxophone typically sets the tempo, while the brass instruments carry the melody. Danced by couples, either fully or slightly separated, the mambo is sometimes described as a variant of the rumba, though it incorporates forward and backward steps. Interestingly, the mambo was codified not in Cuba, but in the United States. The key difference between the original danzón-mambo and the mambo lies in the introduction of a new rhythm and, more importantly, the fusion of Cuban music with compositional elements drawn from big band jazz, as seen in the works of René Hernández, Bebo Valdés, and Pérez Prado. In 1948, the Cuban pianist and composer Pérez Prado relocated to Mexico City, where he formed his own orchestra, which he conducted while dancing and singing, and adding his signature vocal grunts to his performances. With his band, Prado helped define the structure of the mambo, releasing his biggest hits with RCA. Following the success of these records, he embarked on a tour of the United States.

Pérez Prado

Pérez Prado’s music and dance style also gained widespread popularity in Latin America, especially through his appearances in numerous Mexican films during the early 1950s. As a result, he quickly earned the title of the “King of Mambo”. As the mambo gained traction across the Americas, different regional styles began to emerge. In New York, artists like Machito and his Afro-Cubans (pictured at the beginning of this post), Tito Puente, and Tito Rodríguez helped shape the genre’s evolution. Mambo became a mainstream sensation, especially with the release of Papa loves mambo (1954) by Perry Como, which was followed by covers from iconic artists like Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby.

While the popularity of mambo seemed to decline after the rise of the cha cha cha, it remained a lasting cultural force in certain places. Mambo became much more than just a syncopated rhythm or a new style of dancing—it evolved into a cultural phenomenon that left a significant impact on popular culture. The genre found particular success in cinema, especially in the soundtracks of various popular films, including the 1954 film Mambo, directed by Robert Rossen. Mambo’s influence continued to grow in Europe, especially after its association with Federico Fellini’s iconic 1960 film La dolce vita; mambo also appeared in the first act of West side story (1957) by Leonard Bernstein.

Promotional poster for the 1954 film Mambo, directed by Robert Rossen.

In more recent years, mambo’s enduring appeal can be seen in Pink Martini’s 1997 song No hay problema, which incorporates mambo rhythms, as well as Lou Bega’s 1999 hit Mambo no. 5, which sparked a pop revival of the genre. Mambo even found a modern twist in 2021, with DJ Steve Aoki, singer Willy William, and Italian rapper Sfera Ebbasta collaborating on the track Mambo, blending the rhythm into a dance/electronic style (listen to the track below).

This according to the article of the week in DEUMM Online.

Related posts in Bibliolore:

https://bibliolore.org/2016/12/11/perez-prado-and-mambo/

https://bibliolore.org/2021/10/04/cubas-tonadas-trinitarias/

https://bibliolore.org/2018/09/13/cubas-corneta-china/

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Filed under Dance, Performers, Popular music, World music

Pérez Prado and mambo

Pérez Prado was largely responsible for establishing and popularizing mambo in the 1950s and 1960s, and was among the first arrangers to introduce full orchestration (including strings) to Latin music.

By his mid-20s, while working as a pianist in Havana’s clubs, cinemas, and casinos, Prado began to develop his own unique rhythmic ideas, which began coalescing into mambo—an upbeat and brassy dance music in which horns and percussion provide punchy punctuation.

Mambo was most likely a dance before it was a style of music; like the cha-cha-chá, it evolved from the traditional rumba. Prado sometimes claimed that he heard mambo emerging from the cross-rhythms of five or six guitarists simultaneously jamming after hours in Cuban clubs.

Though Prado—and mambo—grew increasingly popular, he left Cuba in 1947; some have suggested that Cuban music publishers considered him an upstart who dirtied their native rumba with forms like jazz, and so conspired to deny him work. He settled in Mexico City in 1948, and formed his own band. He gradually succeeded in becoming a multimedia sensation, regularly performing at Mexico’s most chic clubs and serving as musical director for a number of Mexican films.

The records that Prado cut for RCA in late 1949 helped to ignite the firestorm of “mambo mania”, and he settled into a career in New York City in the 1950s, scoring ten consecutive weeks at the top of the U.S. charts in 1955. Although he was almost certainly not the originator of mambo, he did more than anyone else to make it internationally popular.

This according to “Prado, Pérez” by Chris Slawecki (Encyclopedia of music in the 20th century [New York: Routledge, 2013] p. 489); this resource is one of many included in RILM music encyclopedias, an ever-expanding full-text compilation of reference works.

Today would have been Prado’s 100th birthday! Below, live in 1960.

Related post: Accidental hooks

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