from THE ASSOCIATED PRESS via NY Daily News
MIAMI – Grammy-winning mambo pioneer Israel (Cachao) Lopez died Saturday at 89.
Known simply as Cachao, the Cuban-born bassist and composer fell ill in the past week and died surrounded by family members at Coral Gables Hospital.
Cachao left his Communist homeland and came to the U.S. in the early 1960s. He continued to perform into his late 80s, including a performance after the death of trombonist Generoso Jimenez in September.
Cuban-American actor Andy Garcia, who made a 1993 documentary about Cachao’s career, credited him with being a major influence in Cuban musical history and said his passing marked the end of an era.
“Cachao is our musical father. He is revered by all who have come in contact with him and his music,” Garcia said in a statement on Saturday. “Maestro … you have been my teacher, and you took me in like a son. So I will continue to rejoice with your music and carry our traditions wherever I go, in your honor.”
Cachao was born in Havana in 1918 to a family of musicians. A classically trained bassist, he began performing with the Havana symphony orchestra as a teenager, working under the baton of visiting guest conductors, such as Herbert von Karajan, Igor Stravinsky and Heitor Villa-Lobos, during his nearly 30-year career with the orchestra.
He and his late brother, multi-instrumentalist Orestes Lopez, created the mambo in the late 1930s. The mambo emerged from their improvisational work with the danzon, an elegant musical style that lends itself to slow dancing.