Cachaito Lopez

Best known world-wide as the 'heart-beat of the Buena Vista Social Club', bass player Orlando 'Cachaíto' López is the one musician who has played on every track on every album in the World Circuit Buena Vista Social Club series of CDs . He was featured in the Wim Wenders' documentary " Buena Vista Social Club" and has been a constant member of Ibrahim Ferrer's and Rubén González's world-wide touring groups. But this is only a part of his story. Cachaíto is considered to be one of the finest bass players in Cuba and (in many people's minds), by logical extension, one of the finest bassplayers in the world. 'Cachaíto' is the inheritor and keeper of the flame for an extraordinary Cuban musical dynasty. He is the son of Orestes López (bass, piano, cello, composer) and nephew of Israel 'Cachao' López (bass, composer and founding father of the descarga) - the brothers who were at the forefront of the revolutions in Cuban music from the 30's to the 50's. It was their introduction of the ritmo nuevo in the late 30s which transformed the danzón and sent shock waves through Havana by pushing African rhythms to the forefront of Cuban music and thereby paving the way for the mambo. A crucial part of the López legacy was the tradition of the bass. For generations the family had made the instrument their own (legend has it that the extended family can count over 100 bass players in it's lineage) and it is Cachaíto's mastery of the instrument that is his true inheritance. Cachaíto's family were responsible for countless compositions, and attained the highest musicianship that could, unusually, combine symphony orchestra playing with jazz and popular styles. Cachaíto has continued this tradition, maintaining a fine balance between popular, classical and jazz music throughout his career. Born in Havana in 1933 Cachaíto found himself in an extraordinary musical environment. As far as he can remember, music was all around him; every family member played an instrument, most at the top of their profession. His earliest memory is of carrying his father's manuscript case to radio sessions by the Havana Symphony and often on the same day Arcaño's legendary danzón orchestra. Since a small child Cachaíto was favoured by his father and was taken to many sessions and rehearsals where he sat and watched his father's generation at work. It was clear that from the beginning his path was mapped out, and that he would become a musician. Cachaíto never considered that he would do anything else. However, his early desire was to play the violin but tradition in the form of his grandfather (Pedro) dictated that he take up the bass. He began studying the bass as a child, initially due to his size using the cello and adapting the nfingering. Throughout his youth he was encouraged by his aunt Coralia who made sure that he studied hard. On the whole Cachaíto enjoyed the hard work, despite occasional frustrations when he was not able to join in with his schoolmates' games of baseball. His aunt's house was the family's musical laboratory where the López brothers and their colleagues congregated to compose and try out new ideas. The first piece that Cachaíto ever learnt was 'Isora ', composed by Coralia. (she directed the danzon orchestra for weekend dances at the Isora Society club) At the age of 13, Cachaíto composed his first piece, a danzon, called Isora Infantil. Cachaíto was a witness to a revolution in Cuban music. His father kept him by his side almost constantly and he regularly attended sessions at the various social clubs including Isora Club, (and the Buena Vista Social Club) where he saw legendary bands such as Arcaño y sus Maravillas, ( presenting their first public performances of the 'nuevo ritmo') and Arsenio Rodriguez . His abiding memory of Arsenio is the sheer power of the band, with the leader's unamplified tres achieving a drive beyond it's natural volume. It was the López brothers who composed the theme songs to many of these clubs. Cachaíto quickly developed an easy mastery of the classic Cuban style of bass playing - a big, powerful but precise tone, with an ability to change key fast to accompany the exceptional soloists, (a precision coming from classical training and the demands of the formal structure of the danzón), the ability to sight read and most of all a powerful rhythmic drive and a huge swing and groove. From his early training, Cachaíto learnt not to play too many notes but to focus on being the rock of the band, and a constant for the dancers. By the time he was 17, Cachaíto had taken over from his uncle as Arsenio's bass player. By 1952 he was playing bass with the cabaret orchestra Bambú, and by 1957 with the popular Havana big band Riverside. In 1960 he followed his father and became a bassist with the National Symphony, taking a number of master classes with Czech bassist Karel Kopriva. "I remember once I was playing with the orchestra and I had to appear on the country music TV programme 'Palmas y Cañas' (Palms and Sugar Cane). So as soon as the orchestra was finished I jumped in a taxi with my bass in my DJ and before I knew it I was playing on the set. The orchestra had a visiting conductor from abroad and as chance would have it he happened to see the programme and the next day at rehearsal he said to me "Was that you I saw playing yesterday evening on the TV?" and I said "Yes" And he was astounded, and kept asking me, "How can you play such different styles?" And I told him, "I always had!" As well as his dual career playing classical and popular music, Cachaíto was also playing late night jazz. He played with a host of different musicians at descargas (jam sessions) lasting until the early morning in clubs all over Havana. He played for 'fílin' singers like Omara Portuondo at the Rincón del fílin, and for bolero singers such as César Portillo de la Luz at hot spots like El Gato Tuerto. At the invitation of musical director Manuel Galbán he played bass on the albums of Los Zafiros (The Sapphires), one of the most iconoclastic and experimental vocal groups of the 1960s. As well as being part of the city's bohemian night life 'Cachaíto' participated in the opening up of classical music to popular influences: he prizes a photo of him playing the bass solo in 'Arioso', Leo Brouwer's 1965 homage to Charlie Mingus, for the Jazz Combo which formed part of the National Symphony Orchestra. This quintet included pianist Chucho Valdés and saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, who were to become a key part of the next legendary generation. Together with Valdés, 'Cachaíto' became part of the influential award winning Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna. Chucho Valdés went on to found the innovative Afro-Cuban Jazz group Irakere.. In 1996, Juan de Marcos González brought Cachaíto to Egrem studios to record on the first Afro Cuban All Stars project. Cachaíto went on to record on the now legendary Buena Vista Social Club™ and Rubén González albums. It was these seminal sessions and his meeting with Nick Gold that established Cachaíto as an essential figure in these World Circuit Cuban recordings. The thrill of improvised jazz has remained 'Cachaíto's passion and touchstone. As a result, his debut album 'Cachaíto' celebrates the spirit of the tumbao's (the name given to the key bass patterns of Cuban popular music, most often used to launch descargas) of his father and uncle; "When I was young I watched them working together so closely it was almost impossible to say who contributed what to which tumbao - they seemed to be two heads working as one. I remember how people would come up to the windows of the house and listen in."
montuno.com Ibrahim Ferrer Omara Portuondo Roberto Fonseca Manuel Galban Ale Siqueira Cachaito Lopez