Mozambique
The mozambique is a Cuban dance rhythm that Pello el Afrokán (Pedro Izquierdo) created in Havana in 1963. Like the conga, it grew out of the comparsas of the street carnival. It is seen as the first new genre of post-revolution Cuba.
Origin
In 1963 the mozambique was first shown on Cuban television, in the programme Ritmos de Juventud. The drummers played so tightly together that, as the story goes, they sounded like a single piano. The rhythm quickly became popular, but went out of fashion after a few years. Pello, and later his son, kept it alive.
Line-up
- Drums: Pello himself played four drums; besides these there were six drums for three players.
- Bombo: a bass drum, as in the comparsa.
- Bells: three bells and a frying pan (sartén).
- Horns: trumpets and trombones.
The Cuban mozambique is in rumba clave.
The dance
Dancers bend their knees, go low and lift a foot. The movement is a mix of rumba, son and the American twist.
Well-known songs
- María Caracoles, later also recorded by Santana (1977).
- Ileana quiere chocolate
- Camina como cómico
- Mozambique núm. 1
In 1960s New York, Eddie Palmieri created his own rhythm also called mozambique, inspired by Pello's. The two share no parts.
- The New York mozambique is in son clave.
- Its bell pattern comes from a guaguancó cáscara pattern. Manny Oquendo became known for the timbales part.
- Drummer Steve Gadd later played the bell pattern on drum set in Paul Simon's Late in the Evening.
📝 Sources
Rumba is the most African-rooted of all Cuban music and dance forms — born in the streets, courtyards, and docks of Havana and Matanzas in the late 19th century, with no European instruments, no salon setting, and no pretense of European propriety.
Lees meer >Cuban Dances Originating in Havana
Havana, the cultural heartbeat of Cuba, played a central role in the creation and evolution of several iconic Cuban dances. Some were born directly in the capital, while others were transformed there into the forms we know today.
Lees meer >Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and the birthplace of some of the world's most influential music and dance traditions. African, Spanish, and French cultural streams collided here over centuries of colonial history, producing an extraordinary creative culture that exported itself across the globe.
Lees meer >In the 20th century New York was the second home of Cuban music. Here Afro-Cuban jazz and the mambo craze of the Palladium Ballroom were born, and later salsa.
Lees meer >The drum set (batería) is the Western kit with kick drum, snare, toms, hi-hat and cymbals. In Cuban dance music it became important with the songo of Los Van Van, and it is now a fixed part of timba.
Lees meer >The drum set (batería) is the Western kit with kick drum, snare, toms, hi-hat and cymbals. In Cuban dance music it became important with the songo of Los Van Van, and it is now a fixed part of timba.
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The claves are two round sticks of hardwood. Struck together, they give a high, sharp click that cuts through the whole band. On the claves you play the clave rhythm, the pattern that Cuban music is built on.
Lees meer >The timbales (pailas criollas) are a pair of shallow, metal-shell drums mounted on a stand, played with wooden sticks. They are the rhythmic engine of charanga orchestras and play a critical role in timba.
Lees meer >The piano is the harmonic and rhythmic heart of Cuban popular music. In timba, it is one of the most demanding and expressive instruments in the ensemble.
Lees meer >Timba, the explosive and rhythmically rich genre of Cuban dance music, transformed how the bass functions in popular music. In Timba, the bass is not just foundational — it’s fiery, funky, and free.
Lees meer >The trombone is the defining brass voice of timba. Where earlier Cuban popular music relied primarily on trumpets, timba shifted the brass weight toward trombones — giving the music a deeper, darker, more aggressive horn sound.
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