Cha cha chá

Cha cha chá is an American (North, Middle, South and Caribbean) dance and music style. The name comes from the sound made by the feet of the dancers (sliding over the floor) when dancing. With a style descending from the danzón, the chachachá surfaced in the early 40's, triggered by the Arcaño y sus Maravillas orchestra. Among the musicians of this rhythm, some of the most prominent include the Lopez brothers, Israel and Cachao (with Coralia), Antonio Sanchez, Félix Reina, and a violinist originally from Candelaria (Pinar del Rio, Cuba) but living in Havana: Enrique Jorrín.

One of the cha cha's innovations consists in the considerably increased level of importance given to the choruses by the musicians, creating the type of answer-call which is so common in today's Latin music. According to Jorrín: "I asked the orchestra to all sing in unison. With this unison three things were achieved: the words were heard more clearly, more powerfully and besides the voices of musicians who weren"t really singers were disguised. In the cha cha the singers are the musicians themselves".

This music also points out the difficulty the dancers had with the danzón-mambo, as the steps don't fall on the count, rather on the syncopations. What Jorrín does is take this formula and simplify it so that the melody is based on the counts and the accompaniment on the off-counts; ever since, dancers can rely on the melody, which serves as a reference. Among the most important musicians that devoted themselves to the cha cha are Chicho O"Farril, Pérez Prado, Tito Puente, Charles Aznavour, Rubén Blades and Willie Colón.