News & Updates — charanga

The greatest. Bassist, composer, Cuban music figure, master of the tumbao, inventor of Latin jazz, fine-tuner of the charanga, Israel López "Cachao" Valdéz was born in Old Havana, into a family of bass players. He grew up in the house that Jose Martí used to live in. He started at 8 on bongos, and was playing bass by age nine accompanying silent films. He received classical training and as a teenager joined Orquesta Filharmónica de La Habana, which included guest conductions by Stavinski & Villa-Lobos. He stayed thirty years with the orchestra. Along with his brother Orestes "Macho' López, he...

The great Cuban bassist and composer Juan Formell is best known for being the leader of Los Van Van, and for being the creator of the songo, a fusion of Afro-Cuban, són, charanga, jazz, salsa, soul, classical and pop. Born into a musical family in Havana, he started his career in the late '50s, eventually playing with Elena Burke. He formed Van Van in 1969 after leading Orchestra Revé (and turning them into Changüí '68) and set about becoming one of the most important figures in the history of Cuban music. Los Van Van were the leading band on the...

Kako was a well-respected percussionist, dancer and bandleader in the Latin music scene starting in the '50s. A Puerto Rican who moved to NYC, he played timbales, congas, bongos & quinto for Tito Puente, Arsenio Rodriguez, Mon Rivera, Mongo Santamaria, Charlie Palmieri, Patato Valdez and others, as well as working in a multi-capacity role (session musician, composer, talent scout, A&R, executive) for Alegre Records. He recorded as a leader and also helped put together the Alegre All-Stars (the format of which was copied from the old Cuban descarga sessions but became more famous for the Fania All-Stars later on), who...

One of the rumberos who helped the tradition thrive in NYC, Totico is best known for teaming with Carlos "Patato" Valdes. Born in Havana, he arrived in Boston in '59 and moved to NYC shortly after. He quickly found work as a percussionist, playing with Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln & Eric Dolphy on Roach's incredible Percussion Bittersuite album in '61. He also hooked up with Pupi Legarreta's charanga ensemble (check the Salsa Nova LP) before the absolute classic rumba album Patato & Totico on Verve ('68). The album features Arsenio Rodriguez and Cachao, and I love the killer version of...

The original hippy, the mystical eden ahbez wrote a tune called "Nature Boy" and by chance was able to hand it to Nat King Cole who turned it into a mega-hit in 1948. He looked like a hippy long before it was a thing and lived outdoors in Los Angeles. He lived under the "L" of the Hollywood sign and held a job as a piano player in a raw foods store. He was a vegetarian, straight edge and an anti-vaxer and wore a white robe. This lifestyle inspired "Nature Boy", and after the hit by Cole, ahbez became an...