In Afro-Caribbean music

Afro-Caribbean music

Afro-Caribbean music is a broad term for music styles originated in the Caribbean area, most notably music of Cuba, music of Puerto Rico, music of Haiti, music of Jamaica, music of The Bahamas, music of Belize, music of the Dominican Republic, music of Trinidad and Tobago, music of Venezuela, music...

, mambo is the section of an arrangement in danzon

Danzón

Danzón is the official dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and is still beloved in Puerto Rico where Verdeluz, a modern danzón by Puerto Rican composer Antonio Cabán Vale is considered the unofficial national anthem...

 are related styles which features instrumental improvisation. The beginning of the evolution of this section from montuno

Montuno

Montuno has several meanings pertaining to Cuban music and its derivatives. Literally, montuno means 'comes from the mountain', and so Son montuno may refer to the older type of son played in the mountainous rural areas of Oriente...

 is attributed to Machito

Machito

Machito , born as Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, was an influential Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music...

 and his Afro-Cubans, who included material, new to Afro-Caribbean music, for brass and saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

s, borowed from the big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

. Israel "Cachao" López added an open vamp to danzon and called it "nuevo ritmo" ("new rhythm"), which was later called "mambo section" and eventually into mambo music.