Cuba Mama

SONG TITLE: CUBA MAMA

GENRE: MAMBO
TEMPO: 120 BPM
q =120 Mambo
TECH FEATURES: HI-HAT FOOT CONTROL

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FOUR-WAY COORDINATION A

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FLAMS ON TOMS

COMPOSER:

PERSONNEL:
NOAM LEDERMAN

NOAM LEDERMAN (DRUMS)

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HENRY THOMAS (BASS)
FERGUS GERRAND (PERC)
KISHON KHAN (PIANO)
JAKE PAINTER (TRUMPET)

OVERVIEW spread and bands such as Tito Rodriquez and Tito

‘Cuba Mama’ is a mambo piece written in the style
of Israel ‘Cachao’ López, the inventor of the mambo
rhythm, and that of his fellow Cubans Pérez Prado
and Buena Vista Social Club. It features hi-hat foot
control, four-way coordination and tom flams.
Puente performed at fast tempos that suited dancers.
By the 1990s, interest in mambo had dwindled.
Hollywood actor Andy Garcia organised recording
sessions with leading Cuban musicians in an attempt
to preserve Cuba’s musical heritage. The result was
an album entitled Cachao Master Session Volume I/
II, which won a Grammy award. This project was

œ œ
STYLE FOCUS the basis of the documentary film Cachao: Como Su

‰ œ œ œ œ
Ritmo No Hay Dos (Cachao: Like His Rhythm There

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Traditionally, the drum kit did not feature in Is No Other), which resurrected Lopez’s career.

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mambo music. The drum beats that have been created
since its birth are a mixture of the various percussion In 1999, American musician and composer Ry
patterns of the style. Each drum voice represents a Cooder produced the film and documentary Buena
percussive sound and an essential rhythmic figure. Vista Social Club to offer a glimpse into the Cuban
Modern Latin drummers have developed these music scene.
[4]
elements into beats requiring four-way coordination.

THE BIGGER PICTURE
Cuban bassist ‘Cachao’ Lopez invented the mambo
rhythm with his brother Orestes in the 1930s. Mambo
was considered too radical at first and it took the
efforts of band leader Pérez Prado to give the genre a
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Mambo’s creator ‘Cachao’ López is heard best
on Cuba Linda (2000) and the Grammy award-
winning Ahora Si! (2004). Pérez Prado has several
‘best of ’ albums and Prez (1958) is one of his most
accomplished recordings. Ry Cooder’s production of
Drums Grade 2

mainstream audience. Although mambo was played Buena Vista Social Club (1997) shows another side
mostly in Cuba and Mexico, interest in the genre to the music of Cuba and includes the vocal talent of
grew in New York in the 1950s. A mambo dance craze Ibrahim Ferrer and Compay Segundo.

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