Mambo is a Cuban musical form and dance style. The word mambo (which means conversation with the gods) derives from ki-kongo based language , the language spoken by West-Central African slaves taken to Cuba.
The history of modern mambo begins in 1938, when a danzón called "Mambo" was written by Orestes and Cachao López. The song was a danzón, descended from European social dances like the English country dance, French contredanse and Spanish cont...
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Mambo is a Cuban musical form and dance style. The word mambo (which means conversation with the gods) derives from ki-kongo based language , the language spoken by West-Central African slaves taken to Cuba.
The history of modern mambo begins in 1938, when a danzón called "Mambo" was written by Orestes and Cachao López. The song was a danzón, descended from European social dances like the English country dance, French contredanse and Spanish contradanza, but it used rhythms derived from African folk music.
The contradanza had arrived in Cuba in the 18th century, where it became known as danza and grew very popular. The arrival of black Haitians later that century changed the face of contradanza, adding a syncopation called cinquillo (which is also found in another contradanza-derivative, Argentine tango).
By the end of the 19th century, contradanza had grown lively and energetic, unlike its European counterpart, and was then known as danzón. The 1877 song "Las alturas de Simpson" was...
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