Dámaso Pérez Prado

Dámaso Pérez Prado (Matanzas, Cuba, December 11, 1916 - Mexico City, September 14, 1989), the "King of Mambo", was a Cuban musician, composer, and arranger.

Mostly known for his contributions to the mambo genre, which has its origins in Cuban danzon and would pave the way for the emergence and development of the cha-cha-cha, as well as the music that emerged in the late 1950s and later became known, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as salsa.

He was not the creator of the rhythm, which was already being played in Havana in the late 1930s, but he was its greatest international promoter. He studied music in his native Cuba.

He worked in various orchestras in Havana during the 1940s. He was also a pianist for the Sonora Matancera and the Orquesta Casino de la Playa for a short period.

In 1948 he relocated to Mexico City to create a musical group there. There he worked with the RCA Victor company. He specialized in mambo, of which he is considered one of its greatest exponents.

A skilled pianist and thorough keyboard expert, he has been considered by critical experts as one of the best in this genre of popular music. His interpretation of the famous piece El manisero, by Moisés Simons, is unique of its kind, with rhythm and bongo accompaniment. As a composer, he knew how to handle sheet music very well.

From there came excellent pieces such as Mambo en Sax, La Chula Linda, Silbando Mambo, and Mambo de París among others.

After the mambo's heyday, it is striking that Dámaso Pérez Prado, once he composed his musical piece "Patricia" and obtained its corresponding success, recorded it many times and with different arrangements, an attitude that seems to show that he had a special fondness for that piece.

Among his best-known compositions are Qué rico el mambo and Mambo Nº 5, the latter later released in a new version in 1999 by German singer Lou Bega.

Pérez Prado was also recognized as the author of the Mambo del Politécnico (commonly used in important events and celebrations of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional of Mexico City) and the Mambo Universitario (commonly used in important events and celebrations of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).

During the 1950s decade he was absent from Mexico. An urban legend points to a disagreement with the Mexican government because it prohibited him from performing the Mexican National Anthem in mambo rhythm, although political disagreements are also mentioned.

He acquired Mexican nationality in 1980 and spent the last years of his life in his adopted country. He died at the age of 72 in Mexico City on September 14, 1989 from a heart attack.

Song List
Cerezo Rosa
Chicago Dengue
Guantanamera
Qué rico el Mambo
Mambo Nº 5
Mambo Nº 8
Mambo del Politécnico
Mambo en Trompeta
Marylin Monroe Mambo
Mambo Universitario
Mambo del Taconazo
La niña Popoff
Patricia
Norma, la de Guadalajara
Mambo en Sax
Mambo a la Kenton
El Ruletero
Mambo en Trompeta.
Lupita
La Chula Linda

-It is useful to note that he also performed a countless number of songs not of his own authorship in mambo rhythm-