Orchestra Mambo International - Mambo Te Llama / Del Callejón (ATA-034)

Orchestra Mambo International a 12-piece UK ensemble play classic salsa, mambo and cha cha cha inspired by Latin music legends like Tito Puente, Machito, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, Tito Rodriguez and the Fania All-Stars. Featuring musicians from Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Spain and the UK who are based in the north of England and have played with salsa, jazz, funk and soul artists such as Joe Bataan, Tito Allen, The New Mastersounds, Oscar D'Leon, Matthew Halsall, Snowboy & The Latin Section, Bobby Matos, Larry Harlow, Dave Valentin, Grupo X, Salsa Celtica and The Haggis Horns.

Formed in 2022, Orchestra Mambo International have gigged regularly across the UK performing music from the Fania Records catalogue as well as their much loved "Mambo King: A Musical Tribute To Tito Puente" set. They have appeared live at such prestigious venues as the Blues Kitchen (Manchester), The Forge Camden (London), The Piece Hall (Halifax), Band On The Wall (Manchester), and Leeds venues Howard Assembly Room and Brudenell Social Club.

"Mambo Te Llama" is an uptempo Latin dance track inspired by legendary New York Puerto Rican band leader/percussionist Tito Puente. The mambo genre evolved in 1930s Cuba and spread to Mexico and New York in the 1940s via expat Cuban musicians such as Perez Prado and Mario Bauza. By the mid-1950s, the mambo music and dance craze had swept the world. The epicentre was New York and it's king was Tito Puente. Orchestra Mambo International keeps the flame alive for mambo with this fiery new single, a combination of punchy brass and Afro-Cuban rhythms and featuring great piano, trombone and conga solos.

"Del Callejón" is another mambo, this time a slower one and featuring vibes alongside solos on timbales, trombone and trumpet. In the 1950s, Tito Puente and West Coast USA Latin jazz musician Cal Tjader popularised the vibes in Latin music, where it often features in mambo music but also cha cha cha, Latin bugalu, Latin jazz and salsa music. This Orchestra Mambo International original tune pays homage to the classic mambo vibes style and is another composition written by band leader/trombonist Jonny Enright, with words by lead singer Carlos "Pachanga" Peña.