| Mambo Yo Yo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1998 | |||
| Label | Putumayo World Music [1] | |||
| Producer | Niño Jésus Pérez | |||
| Ricardo Lemvo chronology | ||||
| ||||
Mambo Yo Yo is an album by the Congolese musician Ricardo Lemvo, released in 1998. [2] [3] He is credited with his band, Makina Loca. [4] Lemvo supported the album with a North American tour that included shows as part of his label's AfroLatino Nights tour. [5] [6]
The album was produced by Niño Jésus Pérez. [7] Lemvo sang nine of the album's ten songs in Spanish; he was influenced primarily by Cuban music. [8] [9] Wuta Mayi performed on Mambo Yo Yo. [10] "Aquella Bendita Foto" is a son montuno. [11] The title track is built on the sounds of soukous and salsa. [12]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [13] |
| Robert Christgau |  [14] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [10] |
| MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide | [7] |
Robert Christgau deemed the album "Californian Afro-salsa." [14] The St. Petersburg Times stated that "Lemvo has created an articulate mix of Latin derivations, along with soukous stylings of his native Congo region." [15] The Boston Herald called Mambo Yo Yo "a potent, danceable [Putumayo] debut by the Congolese singer." [16]
Newsday determined: "Whether it's the band's easygoing syncopations or Lemvo's sweet, sandpapered tenor, what comes across is a gently insistent sound that glides along on Latin clave rhythms." [17] The Sun-Sentinel noted that, "in Makina Loca, listeners will hear elements from Afro-Cuban music and soukous, but also merengue from the Dominican Republic, konpa from Haiti and a little Calypso." [18]
AllMusic wrote that "the music on Mambo Yo Yo can be characterized as mainly Cuban style son montuno with trumpets (sometimes muted, giving that 'tropical moonlight' sound), driving piano, even a tres on many numbers." [13]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mambo Yo Yo" | |
| 2. | "Rinkinkaya" | |
| 3. | "Aquella Bendita Foto" | |
| 4. | "Él de la Rumba Soy Yo (Afrika Mokili Mobimba)" | |
| 5. | "El Aguacero" | |
| 6. | "Biloló" | |
| 7. | "No Me Engañes Más" | |
| 8. | "Mujer Divina" | |
| 9. | "Africa, Havana, Paris" | |
| 10. | "Manuela" |
Salsa music is a style of Latin American music, combining elements of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and American influences. Because most of the basic musical components predate the labeling of salsa, there have been many controversies regarding its origin. Most songs considered as salsa are primarily based on son montuno and son cubano, with elements of guaracha, cha-cha-chá, danzón, descarga, bolero, guajira, rumba, mambo, jazz, funk, R&B, rock, bomba, and plena. All of these elements are adapted to fit the basic Son montuno template when performed within the context of salsa.
The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba. Since the early 20th century the term has been used in different countries to refer to distinct styles of music and dance, most of which are only tangentially related to the original Cuban rumba, if at all. The vague etymological origin of the term rumba, as well as its interchangeable use with guaracha in settings such as bufo theatre, is largely responsible for such worldwide polysemy of the term. In addition, "rumba" was the primary marketing term for Cuban music in North America, as well as West and Central Africa, during much of the 20th century, before the rise of mambo, pachanga and salsa.
Son montuno is a subgenre of son cubano developed by Arsenio Rodríguez in the 1940s. Although son montuno had previously referred to the sones played in the mountains of eastern Cuba, Arsenio repurposed the term to denote a highly sophisticated approach to the genre in which the montuno section contained complex horn arrangements. He also incorporated piano solos and often subverted the structure of songs by starting with the montuno in a cyclic fashion. For his approach, Arsenio had to expand the existing septeto ensemble into the conjunto format which became the norm in the 1940s alongside big bands. Arsenio's developments eventually served as the template for the development of genres such as salsa, songo and timba.
Arsenio Rodríguez was a Cuban musician, composer and bandleader. He played the tres, as well as the tumbadora, and he specialized in son, rumba and other Afro-Cuban music styles. In the 1940s and 1950s Rodríguez established the conjunto format and contributed to the development of the son montuno, the basic template of modern-day salsa. He claimed to be the true creator of the mambo and was an important as well as a prolific composer who wrote nearly two hundred songs.
Soukous is a genre of dance music originating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. It derived from Congolese rumba in the 1960s, with faster dance rhythms and bright, intricate guitar improvisation, and gained popularity in the 1980s in France. Although often used by journalists as a synonym for Congolese rumba, both the music and dance associated with soukous differ from more traditional rumba, especially in its higher tempo, song structures and longer dance sequences.
Putumayo World Music is a New Orleans-based record label that specializes in compilations of world music, jazz and blues.
Son cubano is a genre of music and dance that originated in the highlands of eastern Cuba during the late 19th century. It is a syncretic genre that blends elements of Spanish and African origin. Among its fundamental Hispanic components are the vocal style, lyrical metre and the primacy of the tres, derived from the Spanish guitar. On the other hand, its characteristic clave rhythm, call and response structure and percussion section are all rooted in traditions of Bantu origin.
African popular music, like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with Western popular music. Many genres of popular music like blues, jazz, salsa, zouk, and rumba derive to varying degrees on musical traditions from Africa, taken to the Americas by enslaved Africans. These rhythms and sounds have subsequently been adapted by newer genres like rock, and rhythm and blues. Likewise, African popular music has adopted elements, particularly the musical instruments and recording studio techniques of the Western music industry. The term does not refer to a specific style or sound but is used as a general term for African popular music.
A descarga is an improvised jam session consisting of variations on Cuban music themes, primarily son montuno, but also guajira, bolero, guaracha and rumba. The genre is strongly influenced by jazz and it was developed in Havana during the 1950s. Important figures in the emergence of the genre were Cachao, Julio Gutiérrez, Bebo Valdés, Peruchín and Niño Rivera in Cuba, and Tito Puente, Machito and Mario Bauzá in New York. Originally, descargas were promoted by record companies such as Panart, Maype and Gema under the label Cuban jam sessions. From the 1960s, the descarga format was usually adapted by large salsa ensembles, most notably the Fania All-Stars.
Coro-pregón in Afro-Cuban music and other Afro-Latin Latin music, most of all salsa, but also in some non-Cuban genres like merengue and bachata, refers to a call and response section between the lead singer and the coro (chorus). It is found in most Cuban genres, for example son and son montuno, rumba, cha-cha-chá, timba, and many more.
Ricardo Lemvo is a Congolese singer of Angolan descent who lives in Los Angeles, California. His music is a blend of African soukous, kizomba, samba and Cuban salsa.
Congolese rumba, also known as African rumba, is a dance music genre originating from the Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. With its rhythms, melodies, and lyrics, Congolese rumba has gained global recognition and remains an integral part of African music heritage. In December 2021, it was added to the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage.
Lawndale High School is one of three high schools in Lawndale, California, United States. The school was closed in 1981, and reopened in 1998. It is one of three schools in the Centinela Valley Union High School District.
In music of Afro-Cuban origin, tumbao is the basic rhythm played on the bass. In North America, the basic conga drum pattern used in popular music is also called tumbao. In the contemporary form of Cuban popular dance music known as timba, piano guajeos are known as tumbaos.
Jesús Alejandro Pérez is a Cuban-Canadian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader based in Montreal and Los Angeles. He is a member of Ricardo Lemvo's Makina Loca, a salsa band that combines Cuban and Angolan music styles.
A guajeo is a typical Cuban ostinato melody, most often consisting of arpeggiated chords in syncopated patterns. Some musicians only use the term guajeo for ostinato patterns played specifically by a tres, piano, an instrument of the violin family, or saxophones. Piano guajeos are one of the most recognizable elements of modern-day salsa. Piano guajeos are also known as montunos in North America, or tumbaos in the contemporary Cuban dance music timba.
Bopol Mansiamina, also known as Bopol or Don Paolo, was a prolific and renowned Congolese musician. He recorded and performed extensively over four decades as a solo artist, as a member of leading African bands, and in support of many African musicians. Bopol was best known for his work in the 1980s and early 1990s as one of the four members of the Paris-based supergroup Les Quatre Etoiles and as a solo artist.
Syran Mbenza is a guitarist, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who has lived in Paris since about 1981. He has recorded and performed prolifically over five decades, including as a solo artist; as one of the four members of the popular soukous "supergroup" Les Quatre Étoiles; as a founding member of the acoustic, Congolese rumba revival band Kékélé; in other bands; and in support of numerous artists. He has been described as one of the greatest guitar players of Africa.
Salsa Dura is an album by the American trombonist Jimmy Bosch, released in 1999. The title translates to "hard salsa", Bosch's descriptor for his music, and the style of salsa that was less popular than the salsa romántica of the 1990s. Bosch also named his band Salsa Dura.
Galo Negro is an album by the Angolan Congolese musician Sam Mangwana, released in 1998. Mangwana deemed his sound "Congolese Rumba."