Cha-cha-chá (music)

Music of Cuba
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Cha-cha-chá is a genre of Cuban music. It has been a popular dance music which developed from the Danzón-mambo in the early 1950s, and became widely popular throughout the entire world.

Cha-cha-chá is a Cuban music genre whose creation has been traditionally attributed to Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrín, which began his career playing for the charanga band Orquesta América.

According to the testimony of Enrique Jorrín, he composed some danzones in which the musician of the orchestra had to sing short refrains, and this style was very successful. In the danzón "Constancia", he introduced some montunos and the audience was motivated to join in singing the refrains. Jorrín also asked the members of the orchestra to sing in unison so the lyrics may be heard more clearly and achieve a greater impact in the audience. That way of singing also helped to mask the poor singing skills of the orchestra members.

In 1948, Jorrín changed the style of a Mexican song by Guty Cárdenas, called "Nunca", composing a separate part for the trio or montuno of danzón; and in 1951 he composed a signature cha-cha-chá, "La engañadora". Jorrín noticed that most of the dancers had some trouble with highly syncopated rhythms and therefore he simplified the musical texture of his pieces, trying to use as little syncopation as possible. The novel Chachachá style was born from melodies that were very easy to dance.

Since its inception, cha-cha-chá music had a close relationship with the dancer's steps. The name cha-cha-chá came into being with the help of the dancers at the Silver Star Club in Havana. When the dance was coupled to the rhythm of the music, it became evident that the dancer's feet were making a peculiar sound as they grazed the floor on three successive beats. Cha-cha-chá was an onomatopoeia to describe this sound.

According to Odilio Urfé, cha-cha-chá was a musical genre that was based on the rhythm of danzón-mambo but with a different structural conception. It utilized elements of chotis madrileño and a monodic vocal style. After "La Engañadora", Urfé's original structure was greatly modified by Jorrín and other composers.

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