Pérez Prado

Radanovich succeeds in conveying how radical [mambo] music was ... [and] deftly notes the mambo’s underappreciated influence ... An apt cultural history. * Kirkus Reviews * A singular artist in Latin music, Pérez Prado married the dissonances of Stravinsky to the rumba of his native Cuba. John Radanovich’s book illuminates Prado’s world. -- Jacob Plasse * composer, producer, and founder of Chulo Records * The most thorough, informative, and readable account to date of Pérez Prado’s life and career. In Radanovich, the King of the Mambo has found the chronicler he deserves. -- Gustavo Pérez Firmat * author of The Havana Habit; David Feinson Professor Emeritus of Humanities, Columbia University, USA * It is finally here: the first comprehensive English-language biography of the King of the Mambo. Congratulations! -- Mats Lundahl * Professor Emeritus, Stockholm School of Economics; author of Bebo de Cuba: Bebo Valdés and His World * Radanovich has brought forth a kaleidoscopic mambo-vision dream that gets at the fascinating, little-known corners of the mid-century Cine De Oro movement in Mexican cinema and its tantalizing rumberas, as well as the worldwide dissemination of the mambo and Prado’s signature distillation of the rhythmic drive of that grand movement. -- Paul Cebar * singer, songwriter, bandleader, and radio host of Way Back Home * John Radanovich’s sweeping account of Pérez Prado’s life, music, and career provides rich context and thorough exploration of the artist’s development, his collaborators, competitors, and his contemporaries. Offering a fascinating look at the interrelated Cuban and Spanish Caribbean music scenes across the globe, and the cultural impact of the mambo across eras, this comprehensive book preserves Pérez Prado’s memory and music—and the legacy of the mambo era—for future generations. -- Benjamin Lapidus * Professor of Music, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and The Graduate Center, CUNY, USA and author of New York and the International Sound of Latin Music, 1940-1990 *