Mambo

Mambo derived from the traditional "son" music. The mambo is a dance which originated in the Haitian settlements of Cuba. The dance of the mambo is not found in Haiti, although Haitians brought the dance to Cuba. In Haiti, a voodoo princess is known as the Mambo (meaning conversation with the gods).

The music has influences from both Africa and Europe. The European influence can be traced back to the seventeenth century dances, including England's country dance, France's contredanse, and Spain's contradanza. These influences arrived in Cuba in the eighteenth century as the danza and eventually became the national dance.

In the nineteenth century, the music became more spontaneous, changing into the Cuban danzon without the European influence. It was full of improvisation solos featuring a variety of instruments such as the cello, piano, guiro, clarinet, and flute.

In the 1920's, a lighter version of the danzon became known as charangas. In 1938, the first mambo was composed; it was actually a danzon written by Orestes Lopez which he titled "Mambo." This song included elements of both the danzon and the son, another popular traditional Cuban music form.

Although it was Orestes Lopez who composed the first mambo, it is Perez Prado who created the mambo dance and introduced it in 1943 at La Tropicana, a night club in Havana. The difference between his mambo style and the existing danzon style was the more jazzy feel to it. He used jazz instruments and drums more than traditional instruments. This musical style was a mixture of swing and traditional Cuban music. Two of Prado's most famous dance numbers include "Patricia" and "Mambo No.5," both of which were recorded in the early 1950's.

The mambo also found its way to the United States. Dancers who joined in the obsession of the mambo were called "Mambonicks". Although mambo took the United States by storm, it died out almost as quickly as it came. Today, the only people who really dance the mambo in the States are professional and advanced dancers.

Mambo is still very popular in Cuba. The Cubans enjoy dancing the mambo at parties and social events; they also listen to the music of the mambo as it continues to grow and evolve into new forms of music.