Orlando "Cachaito" López

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Orlando "Cachaito" López is a Cuban bassist, who has gained international attention especially since his involvement in the Buena Vista Social Club recordings.

He was nicknamed Cachaito ("little Cachao") after his uncle, the famous bassist and innovator of mambo music Israel "Cachao" López.

[edit] Biography

Born in Havana, Cuba in 1933, Orlando "Cachaito" López first got actively involved in music when he was only nine years old. By the age of eleven he was involved with an orchestra with his aunt. At one point he wanted to stop playing the bass and learn the violin but his family insisted he remain on the bass. There are 40 professional bassists in his family, a trend that they did not want stopped. His musical career is said to have started when he was twelve and went on his own to play with the hugely popular dance band, Orquesta Riverside.

He was then asked by his uncle to stand in with Arcana y sus Maravillas, a band that had been around since before Cachiato was born. He made such an impression on the group that he was asked to stay.

In the 1950s, he helped create the descarga style of music that is a mix between jazz-styled improvisation with Afro-Cuban rhythms. In the 1960s, he was a key member of Irakere, a Cuban experimental band that combined pop, classical, Cuban folk, African and jazz influences.

He was also a member of the Buena Vista Social Club, a formal, upper class social club for young people to drink and dance. After a career spanning some 60 years, Cachaito is still touring and recording.