Mambo Quotes

I'm a big salsa fan!

Being a New Yorker, I used to dance to Latin music. There was a place called the Palladium on Broadway. And Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez used to play. So I still have that in my blood.

Every band had their own distinctive sound, but it was pretty much dancing music and rhythmic music with a tremendous emphasis on copying the Cuban models.

Latin people love to dance. Nothing is more powerful than a Latin man doing 'Mambo Number 5' by himself.

Elvis Presley's music never meant anything to me. Mambo was the music I loved - it spoke to me.

The world will always love Cuban music, however it changes.

Cachao is obviously Cuban. He's known for traditional Cuban music and that's the music that I'm most passionate about. Cachao is one of the greatest innovators and visionaries. At the base of the tree, the roots, there is Cachao. So I was blessed to have had that time to learn from him and to give him an opportunity and a space where he can create. Everybody always wants to play with Cachao, because he's the guy.

Cubans are frantic when it comes to appreciating music.

Jazz and Cuba are inexorably tied together; it's not a branch from a tree. Latin music is part of the root of jazz.

I learned a lot from Xavier Cugat.