National Museum of American History : Cacao Lopez

In the pantheon of Latino contributions to Jazz, one name that continues to stand out is Israel “Cachao” López. The Cuban bass player helped invent the mambo style in the late 1930s, speeding up the traditional Cuban dance music danzón by inserting a swing to it. The springy bass lines Cachao played, alongside his brother, pianist/cellist Orestes López, became a foundation of modern Cuban music, later influencing salsa, Latin-infused rock ‘n’ roll, and R&B.

The artist for the 2022 JAM poster is Francis Henry Cuadro, a senior visual arts student at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Washington, D.C.