Israel 'Cachao' Lopez Dies At 89

Cuban bassist, composer and musical innovator Israel Lopez - known globally as Cachao - died Saturday, March 22 of complications from liver failure at a hospital in Coral Gables, FL. He was 89.

Cacho was born in Havana in 1918. He was a clasically trained bass player and started his musical career playing with the Havana Symphony Orchestra. In the 1930s, he and his brother Orestes Lopez composed hundereds of songs for Cuban musicians. In the 1930s, they added Afro-Cuban rhythms to popular 'danzon', labelling their music 'nuevo ritmo' and the new song form danzon-mambo. These innovations led to the the addition of the hugely popular mambo to Latin music repetoires.

In the 1950s, Cachao and friends would finish their respective concerts and take their excess energy to the recording studios where they'd improvise and jam until the wee hours of the morning; this type of free-style performance became known as 'descarga' (discharge) and today continues to entertain and inspire both musicians and audiences for its joyful and unrestrained improvisation.

Cachao's passing seems to mark the end of an era. He wil be sorely missed but his legacy lives on in his songs and musical influence.

By the way, those interested in the glory days of mambo and the Palladium era can look forward to a documentary that is due to be released in September; La Epoca will chronicle the era, the mambo and the celebrated artists that made a mighty music come alive.