Pedro Izquierdo Padrón

Percussionist. He introduced the Mozambique rhythm (with elements of conga, rumba, and iyesá touch).

At only 12 years old, he began his artistic career in 1945, when he performed at Teatro Martí with his brothers Gilberto and Roberto.

In 1963, with his group, made up of drums, bells, and wind instruments, he introduced the mozambique rhythm (with elements of conga, rumba, and iyesá touch), whose precedent from the point of view of instrumental composition, lies in the chambelona.

Regarding the use of drums, Pello explained: "... the drums with which I must play the new rhythm are, basically, five; but I am now using four for reasons of space where I perform [...]. Those four drums I call in Lucumí language: oloddu-mare. In them I execute the flourish or quinteto indispensable in the interpretations of the rhythm. And in their central base, in these four drums the fundamental strikes of the mozambique are repeated, in the form of musical ornamentation. These strikes are always present in six drums that are played by three drummers [...]. The drums are, from left to right, high, semi-high, low and semi-low. The diameter of each drum, in its widest part, is, respectively, as follows: 10 ½, 10 ¾ 11 and 10 ½. We know that for a perfect fifth one should use a drum of 9 ½ inches, but this diameter turns out to be small due to the speed with which various sound effects are executed".

The Mozambique
In its choreographic form (created by Pello himself), the mozambique is danced as follows: the knees are flexed and the body is lowered, while one foot is advanced; this movement is completed with the withdrawal of the foot, while the body returns to its normal position. This execution is carried out based on the low drum strike, combined with the bass drum. This strike, very important in the mozambique, is reinforced by certain sonorities achieved by Pello, in the manner of a quinteto, in the lower pitched skins of his drums. The effect achieved through the coupling of the six drums played by the three drummers, Pello el Afrokán performs in his four drums, but further enriching the rhythm, with inspirations that arise from the constant flourish he makes over the basic mozambique rhythm.

The remaining twelve drums are identified, from left to right: the first produces nine strikes, linked to two strikes of the drum that follows it; the third, three, in countertime; the fourth, five strikes in countertime, and the fifth drum, which also pumps in countertime, while the sixth executes the strike of the first. There are three percussionists, each executing two drums, that produce the rhythms necessary for the dance, complemented by the four central drums; while the bass drum performs the function of the double bass, with which the mozambique rhythm is rounded out and adjusted; to the drums three bells and a frying pan are added, which create the effect of two claves, one on beat and another in countertime.

The group is completed with trumpets and trombones that perform the melodic part of the mozambique and the dancers, who made demonstrations of how to dance it. Pello el Afrokán, with his group, made tours through Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Panama, Mexico, New York (he performed at Carnegie Hall), Belgium, where he performed with his group at the Schöten International Festival of Music and Folklore Dance; in Spain, he performed at the Gran Canarias Carnival, Aromar hotel, Kamel nightclub (on the Costa Brava), Castellón, Valencia, Alicante, Gijón, and at the restaurant ¡Oh Madrid!, in La Coruña; in Paris (he went with the Gran Music Hall de Cuba) he worked alongside percussionist Ramón Santamaría (Mongo), and with the group of Puerto Rican saxophonist Justo Almario at the New Money; Poland, German Democratic Republic, Soviet Union, and Japan.

Contributions
Walks like a comedian,
Ileana wants chocolate,
María Caracoles,
Mozambique No. 1.