Mambo is a genre of Cuban dance music pioneered by the charanga Arcaño y sus Maravillas in the late 1930s and later popularized in the big band style by Pérez Prado. It originated as a syncopated form of the danzón, known as danzón-mambo, with a final, improvised section, which incorporated the guajeos typical of son cubano. These guajeos became the essence of the genre when it was played by big bands, which did not perform the traditional sections of the danzón and instead leaned towards swing and jazz. By the late 1940s and early 1950s, mambo had become a "dance craze" in Mexico and the United States as its associated dance took over the East Coast thanks to Pérez Prado, Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez and others. In the mid-1950s, a slower ballroom style, also derived from the danzón, cha-cha-cha, replaced mambo as the most popular dance genre in North America. Nonetheless, mambo continued to enjoy some degree of popularity into the 1960s and new derivative styles appeared, such as dengue; by the 1970s it had been largely incorporated into salsa.
Danny Rivera is a singer and songwriter born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired Dominican Republic citizenship. After 12 years of work, Danny Rivera and Nelson González in 2014 finished work putting new life into the classical bolero - in Spanish. Rivera and González Hit the Heart of the Latin American Song Book on Obsesión
The Music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources of Puerto Rico have primarily included European, Indigenous, and African influences, although many aspects of Puerto Rican music reflect origins elsewhere in the Caribbean. Puerto Rican music culture today comprises a wide and rich variety of genres, ranging from essentially native genres such as bomba, danza, and plena to more recent hybrid genres such as salsa, Latin trap and reggaeton. Broadly conceived, the realm of "Puerto Rican music" should naturally comprise the music culture of the millions of people of Puerto Rican descent who have lived in the United States, especially in New York City. Their music, from salsa to the boleros of Rafael Hernández, cannot be separated from the music culture of Puerto Rico itself.
Boogaloo or bugalú is a genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly among teenage African Americans and Latinos. The style was a fusion of popular African American rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music with mambo and son montuno, with songs in both English and Spanish. The American Bandstand television program introduced the dance and the music to the mainstream American audience. Pete Rodríguez's "I Like It like That" was a famous boogaloo song.
Carlos Manuel "Charlie" Palmieri was an American bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as the "Giant of the Keyboards".
Eddie Palmieri is an American Grammy Award-winning pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive.
Cheo Feliciano was a Puerto Rican singer and composer of salsa and bolero music. Feliciano was the owner of a recording company called "Coche Records". He was the first tropical singer to perform at the "Amira de la Rosa Theater" in Barranquilla, Colombia, and in 1987 he played the role of Roberto Clemente's father in the musical Clemente.
Pellín Rodríguez, was a Salsa singer. Rodríguez was a member of the musical group El Gran Combo and toured with them all over Latin America and Europe, gaining fame and popularity as a singer. In addition to his singing capabilities, Rodríguez had great comedic abilities and participated on comedy bits on various TV shows in Puerto Rico.
Graciela was a Cuban-born American singer of Cuban music and Latin jazz.
Ángel Santos Vega Colon, aka Santitos Colón, was a Puerto Rican bolero and mambo singer, born in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico and raised in Mayagüez. He was also known by the moniker: "The Man with The Golden Voice".
Melina Almodóvar, also known as La Muñeca de la Salsa and La Chica Del Bling, is a Puerto Rican salsa singer, songwriter, dancer, and entertainer. Known for her high-energy performances and salsa dancing skills, she combines old-school salsa moves with contemporary styles of dancing and singing. She is also credited with establishing the first successful salsa orchestra in the Southern United States, Orquesta Caliente.
Alfonso "El Panameno" Joseph was born in the Republic of Panama, and immigrated to New York City at 11 years of age, where he studied music and became one of the forefront bassists of the Cuban bandleader Arsenio Rodríguez. Joseph is a featured guest in a major television production about the era of Afro-Cuban music at The Palladium in New York La Epoca.
Tempo Latino is a festival of salsa music and Latin music in Vic-Fezensac, France.
Mario Rivera was a Latin jazz saxophonist from the Dominican Republic. Besides saxophone, Rivera played trumpet, flute, piano, vibraphone, congas, and drums.
John Rodríguez Jr., better known as Johnny "Dandy" Rodríguez, is an American bongo player of Puerto Rican descent. He was the long-time bongosero for Tito Puente, and also played with Tito Rodríguez, Ray Barretto and Alfredo de la Fe. He belonged to several popular bands of the salsa era such as Tico All-Stars, Fania All-Stars and Típica 73.
Bobby Sanabria is an American drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, producer, educator, activist, radio show host of Puerto Rican descent who specializes in jazz and Latin jazz.
Ernest AnthonyPuente Jr., commonly known as TitoPuente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions from his 50-year career. His most famous song is "Oye Como Va".
"Inolvidable" ("Unforgettable") is a song written by Julio Gutiérrez in 1944. It is considered one of the most popular boleros released during the Cuban musical movement led by pianists. The song has been recorded by several performers, including Roberto Carlos, Diego El Cigala, Fania All-Stars, Eydie Gormé, Danny Rivera, Tito Rodríguez and Bebo Valdés, among others.
Vitín Avilés was a Puerto Rican singer, Born in the Barrio San Silvestre of Mayagüez. He learned from his father the Barber job, while he was singing his first gigs in amateur radio shows. In 1943 started as a lead singer on the Orquesta Hatuey of William Manzano and with the Orquesta Anacaona. In 1944 he went to San Juan, Puerto Rico to sing with the Orquesta of Miguelito Miranda on where he recorded his first album. who in the 1940s and 1950s often went unnoticed, even though he was among Latin music's five most popular band singers during the period. He sang in Tito Puente's orchestra and was lead vocals on the hit single Ran Kan Kan. He also sang with Tito Rodríguez, Carlos Varela (bandleader), with his own orchestra, and for Charlie Palmieri.
Harvey Averne has been described as "one of several prominent Jewish Americans in New York's bustling Latin music scene."
