Mucho Mambo Interview

Martin Taylor shared his inspiration and gave us a brief history on one of the most enduring of Latin traditions.

The modern interpretation of the mambo rhythm is the result of a long cross-cultural journey, taking influences from both African and European traditions. The word "mambo" was originally a Bantu name for a musical instrument used in rituals and translates literally to "conversation with the gods".

The Mambo can also be traced back to the English country-dance, French contredanse and Spanish contradanza. At the end of the 19th century the contradanza became freer and more spontaneous with the introduction of more African elements and became known as the danzon. The danzon had several sections, the last section of which incorporated improvised elements. In 1938 cellist Orestes Lopez composed a danzon called "Mambo" where he introduced elements from the Cuban musical genre 'son' in this coda (tail) section.

Martin Taylor: "Mambo is basically a fusion of traditional Cuban music with the arrangements and orchestrations from the Big Band Jazz genre of the 1930's in the United States. It is one of the few styles of music that is dance music, great fun and has musical substance. This is probably why it is appreciated by so many types of people and age groups, there is really something for everyone."

Throughout the 1940's and 50's this up-tempo dance style blended several elements of North American instrumentation (big bands) and harmony (jazz) and became the most popular musical form in the USA with artists such as Machito, Tito Rodriguez, Beny More, Tito Puente and Perez Prado. Perez Prado popularised the big band mambo that we know today, using jazzier instruments including brass and drums. Taylor has hand picked 18 of Sydney's hottest Latin and Jazz musicians to create the orchestra, constantly working to increase their repertoire of mambo classics.

"We are very conscious of performing music from the masters of Mambo, such as Machito, Perez Prado, Beny More, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente as a kind of homage, but we also perform more modern arrangements from artists such as Cubanismo and The Afro Cuban Allstars. One of our strong aims is to incorporate different Latin rhythms such as the bolero, cha cha cha, danzon, conga and mozambique, as well as son and salsa."

In the 1950's the cha cha cha, a kind of Mambo but easier to dance swept through Havana and New York. 1954 was dubbed " The Year of the Mambo" and many mainstream musicians and singers were performing in mambo orchestras including Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Buddy Rich, Dizzy Gillespie, Perry Como, Rosemary Clooney and Vaughn Monroe.

So in Sydney 2003, was it difficult to bring together an orchestra of 18 specialist musicians?

"It was quite easy to bring together the orchestra. Every musician was really keen to be involved in such a unique and enjoyable project. As a matter of fact it is hard to keep people out as there are so many other players who want to be involved. I have chosen musicians not only based on their incredible ability, but also on their professionalism and fun element, which is imperative in the orchestra."

"I think the appeal is, although we perform to the highest musical level, the music is great fun and we don't take the whole Latin thing too seriously. Mambo is the "white man's" Latin music and has a great crossover with Jazz and popular culture." May 2003