Israel Cachao López
Cachao left us today, and while I’m sad at his passing, I am very happy that he was among us for eight decades of seriously heavy groove. He was the master (some say the inventor) of the mambo, the recipient of numerous Grammy awards, and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. More recently, he was featured on the cover of Bass Player magazine, which was a touching recognition of his towering importance in music. Many current bass players are rediscovering the classical rhythmic function of our instrument, and his playing style represents a tremendous compendium of style.
I sometimes think of all the great Cuban jazz that we never get to hear. Cuba is off limits to US citizens. No travel. No trade. We’re lucky that some of this wonderful music makes it way to us, but I do hope that someday soon we’ll be able to legally travel to Cuba to hear the next Cachao in action.
I was a late discoverer of Cachao, and can thank my bass teacher for turning me on to his music as part of transcription assignment. Get out there and dig that groovy, baby.