ANDY GARCIA - MAMBO PIONEER ISRAEL 'CACHAO' LOPEZ DIES AGED 89

MAMBO PIONEER ISRAEL 'CACHAO' LOPEZ DIES AGED 89

Israel 'Cachao' Lopez, the Cuban musician credited with inventing the mambo, died on Saturday in Florida at the age of 89.

His spokesman Nelson Albareda said the Grammy-winner passed away surrounded by his family at Coral Gables hospital in Miami having been taken ill in the past week.

Born in Havana in 1918, Cachao left Communist Cuba for the US in the early 1960s and performed well into his late 80s.

Actor Andy Garcia, of Cuban-American descent, made a documentary about Cachao in 1993 and today paid tribute to the musician as a huge influence on Cuban culture.

"Cachao is our musical father. He is revered by all who have come in contact with him and his music," he said in a statement.

"Maestro... 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 honour."

Cachao created the mambo with his late brother Oresto in 1937, he explained in a 2004 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

"My brother and I were trying to add something new to our music and came up with a section that we called danzon mambo," he said.

"It made an impact and stirred up people. At that time our music needed that type of enrichment."

He was honoured with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 2003 and won a Grammy in 2004 for his album Agora Si.