Havana Mambo

Havana Mambo isn't the only salsa/Afro-Cuban band that is based in Italy, but unlike other salsa outfits one might find in Milan, Rome, Palermo, Venice, or Florence, Havana Mambo isn't dominated by Italians -- the band's founders are originally from Cuba. Havana Mambo, in fact, was formed in Havana, Cuba, in 1994 by ten Cuban musicians who had been members of the New Pérez Prado Orchestra -- a so-called "ghost orchestra" that was modeled after the bands of the seminal Pérez Prado, who was among the most influential Cuban artists of the '40s, '50s, and '60s and died in 1989 at ...