Mambo ruletero perez prado biography

Though diminutive in stature, Pérez Prado was a giant in the world of post-war popular music. Dubbed "The Mambo King," he reigned supreme as one of the most influential pop orchestra leaders of the early 1950s.

As the mambo rhythm spread across the continents, a society emerged from the dark years of World War II to shed it's inhibitions and embrace the frenzy of this Afro-Cuban beat.

Dámaso Pérez Prado, El Rey del Mambo, was born in Matanzas, Cuba, on December 11, 1916.   His mother was a schoolteacher, his father a newspaper man.

In early childhood, he studied classical piano with Rafael Somavilla at the Principal School of Matanzas and as a young man played organ and piano in local cinemas and clubs.

Mambo ruletero perez prado biography

He was 26 when he moved to Havana around 1942. There he played piano for the Orquesta del Cabaret Pennsylvania de la Playa de Mariano and soon moved on to a small band at the Cabaret Kursaal. He apparently changed jobs several times in 19