Born Dámaso Pérez Prado on December 11, 1916, in Matanzas, Cuba; died of a stroke on September 14, 1989, in Mexico City; married; two children. Education: Studied classical piano under Rafael Somavilla at Principal School of Matanzas. While Latin music enthusiasts may argue whether or not Pérez Prado actually invented the style known as the mambo, his inimitable flair and high-energy approach to the music created a popular dance craze, and he would become known as the "King of Mambo."
In the 1940s and 1950s, the Cuban-born bandleader took Afro-Cuban music and incorporated elements of American jazz, popularizing it throughout the Americas. Embracing a broad array of cultures and social classes, Pérez Prado catapulted his mambo to the top of mainstream pop charts. Late twentieth-century lounge music revival enthusiasts embraced the bandleader's catchy sound, and still others applauded his role as one of the most influential and talented Latin bandleaders of the era. Dámaso Pérez Prado was born on December 11, 1916, in Matanzas, a part of Cuba known for its rich Afro-Cuban musical tradition.
His father was a newspaper man and his mother taught school. As a child, he studied classical piano at the Principal School of Matanzas under the direction of Rafael Somavilla. He later went on to play piano and organ in local venues and continued to offer his skills as a pianist to small orchestras and in cabarets after moving to Havana in 1942. Radio audiences began to take note of the young musician when he appeared on Radio 1010 along with Orquesta Cubaney. Prado's big break came when he was invited to join the Orquesta Casino de la Playa, Cuba's most popular band.
According to Latin Beat magazine, Orlando Guerra ("Cascarita") loved Prado's high-energy arrangements, and invited him to become the orchestra's pianist and arranger. Prado's passion for experimentation, however, also hindered the growth of his career. So bold was his tinkering with traditional rhythms (not to mention the inclusion of trumpets and jazz elements), that fans began calling Prado's hot new sound "diablo" (devil). In a Cuban musical environment dominated by conservatives who were interested in preserving established song frameworks, Prado found it increasingly difficult to find work.
In 1947 he left Cuba for mainland Latin America and eventually decided to settle in Mexico, where he became well-known for his work on Cuban radio. Mexico City in the late 1940s was a major media center, and its musical trends received attention in the United States. When executives for RCA Victor in New York City heard a demo that Prado had recorded in 1949, they were interested, but told him his music was too complicated. Following their advice, he pared down and simplified the music.
The resulting debut release, which featured Mambo Nº 5 and Qué Rico el Mambo, set the Americas on fire. With the help of a marketing efforts never before seen in Latin music, Prado's sound took the whole continent by surprise, with the songs Patricia and Mambo Nº 5 becoming smash hits in the United States and Latin America. In 1955, Prado's mambo Cherry Pink/Apple Blossom White became, for ten straight weeks, the most popular record in the United States---an achievement only Elvis Presley would top, during the following year. The mambo was eagerly embraced by a generation of New Yorkers of all ethnicities, who flocked to the "temple of mambo" called the Palladium Ballroom. Many jazzmen who stopped by the fashionable club became inspired to incorporate Latin music into their recordings. by Brett Allan King
