Cuban bassist and composer Israel "Cachao" Lopez, who is credited with pioneering the mambo style of music, died Saturday. He was 89. Known simply as Cachao, the Grammy-winning musician had fallen ill ...

This week we listen to some Afro-Cuban mambo from its beginnings in the 1940’s, through its high point in the 1960’s, to the present day. Like the words bongo and banjo, the word mambo comes from the ...

African groups in Cuba, which Sublette traces to four distinct regions on the dark continent, kept a lot of their culture and traditions intact through the formation of cabildos, something like 'town ...

Cuban bassist and composer Israel "Cachao" Lopez, who is credited with pioneering the mambo style of music, died Saturday at age 89, a family spokesman said.Known simply as Cachao, the Grammy-winning ...

If you ever want a test of willpower for yourself, try not to move your body or dance while hearing a Cuban orchestra. The rhythms and sounds a really good one (and even not so good ones) produces ...

This week we listen to some Afro-Cuban mambo from its beginnings in the 1940’s, through its high point in the 1960’s, to the present day. Like the words bongo and banjo, the word mambo comes from the ...

Orquesta Akokán takes its name from the Yoruba word meaning "from the heart." The group's self-titled debut album, released in March, draws deep from the soul and history of Cuba, reviving the spirit ...

Listening to this recording is similar to having a knowledgeable friend spin some tunes that fit together in many likely though not necessarily expected ways. It is a “mix tape” of sorts that features ...

The Bay Area has been a hotbed for Cuban music for more than half a century, and despite the persistent cold war freeze on relations with the communist-ruled nation, the temperature here keeps rising.

Victor Parra was a Chicago-area radio host, musician and bandleader who championed Afro-Cuban jazz music as the host of his weekly radio show, “Mambo Express,” on both WBEZ-FM and WDCB-FM. Parra was ...

As the cofounder of the important Cuban music label Qbadisc and coproducer of public radio's Afropop Worldwide, Sublette is a well-known figure among elite mambo aficionados. Still, the sheer size and ...