Pello el Afrokán
Percussionist from Havana: in 1963 Pello el Afrokán created the mozambique, a new dance rhythm that, like the conga, grew out of the carnival comparsas.
About
Pello el Afrokán's real name was Pedro Izquierdo Padrón. He was born on 7 January 1933 in Havana. As early as 1945, aged twelve, he was on stage at the Teatro Martí with his brothers Gilberto and Roberto. He died in 2000 in Havana.
In 1963 the rhythm was first shown on Cuban television, in the programme Ritmos de Juventud.
- Line-up: drums, a bombo (bass drum), bells, and trumpets and trombones.
- Clave: the Cuban mozambique is in rumba clave.
- Dance: dancers bend their knees, go low and lift a foot. The movement mixes rumba, son and the twist.
- Well-known songs: María Caracoles, later also recorded by Santana, and Ileana quiere chocolate.
The mozambique went out of fashion after a few years, but it is seen as the first new genre of post-revolution Cuba. With his group Pello toured Latin America, Europe and Japan, and played Carnegie Hall.
In 1960s New York, Eddie Palmieri created his own rhythm also called mozambique. Apart from the name it has little in common with Pello's: it is in son clave.
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