Mozambique

Mozambique is a Cuban carnival music and dance created in Havana in 1963 by percussionist *Pello el Afrokán*, built from the comparsa street-parade tradition and scored for massed conga drums, bass drums, cowbells and a trombone section. Faster and heavier than the conga it renews, it is organised around a distinctive bell pattern locked to clave, with choreographed dancers demonstrating the steps from the stage. Despite its name it owes nothing to the African nation: *Pello* chose the word for a small country few could place. New York salsa bands adopted the rhythm within two years, and it remains a standard pattern every timbalero must know.