Composer

Roisel Suárez

Arranger

Roisel Suárez

Category

Big Band

Level

Advanced

Style

Mambo

Ranges

Duration

4:34

Description

Mambo a la Monk is a piece where Pérez Prado's mambo style meets the harmonic and rhythmic ingenuity of Thelonious Monk. In the 1940s and 50s, mambo and bebop flourished almost in parallel, one in the dance halls and Latin big bands; the other in the most intimate and avant-garde jazz clubs. This piece imagines a universe where both worlds not only brush against each other, but dance together. The result is a mambo with blazing riffs, Cuban syncopations, and bursts of brass seasoned with unexpected twists and strategic silences that evoke Monk's signature "creeked swing." It's music to move your feet... and to surprise your ears.