Orestes López

[1] A long-time member of the charanga Arcaño y sus Maravillas, where he played cello and piano, he is considered the co-creator of the mambo, together with his brother Israel "Cachao" López, and one of the most prolific danzón composers of the 20th century.

[4][5] In the 1930s he was the musical director of three dance orchestras: López-Barroso, Orquesta de Orestes López and La Unión, before joining Antonio Arcaño y sus Maravillas in 1937 as a founding member.

López, a multi-instrumentalist, composed and orchestrated danzones, most notably "Camina Juan Pescao", "El truco de Regatillo", "Los tres bailadores" and "Mambo", which launched a new style of danzón, the so-called danzón-mambo.

López's danzón-mambo, also called danzón de nuevo ritmo, changed the third movement when he substituted a montuno (based on the syncopated beat of the son-playing treseros from Oriente).

Although the Maravillas disbanded in 1958, López remained active in the popular music scene, playing piano in several of Cachao's descarga albums recorded between 1957 and 1960, including the successful Cuban Jam Sessions in Miniature.