Israel “Cachao” López: 1918-2008

Over the weekend, prolific Latin bassist Israel “Cachao” López passed away in Miami at the age of 89. The Cuban-born musician was widely credited as the inventor of the mambo and has been one of the most influential Cuban musicians of the last century.

Born into a musical family in Cuba, López began playing music at a young age, performing with the Havana Philharmonic at age 12 (he had to stand on a crate to play his double bass). In his teens, López began experimenting with a faster style of play with his cellist brother Orestes, creating what would eventually be dubbed mambo. Cachao always refused to take credit for the genre, frequently crediting his bandleader Damaso Perez Prado as its progenitor.

Aside from his mambo legacy, López was one of the first Cuban musicians to popularize the descarga, or jam session. (Buena Vista Social Club was later spawned from a descarga and included Cachao’s nephew, Orlando "Cachaito" López.) Throughout his career, López played with a veritable who’s-who of Latin music, including Tito Puente, Gloria Estefan and Eddie Palmieri.

After a brief absence from the spotlight, Cachao got a boost from Cuban-American actor Andy Garcia, who directed the 1993 documentary, Cachao... Como Su Ritmo No Hay Dos, about the bassist. In response to López’s death, Garcia wrote: “Maestro, your music has accompanied me all my life and will continue to do so until we meet again. 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.”

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