''Mambo Yo Yo'' is an album by the Congolese musician Ricardo Lemvo, released in 1998. He is credited with his band, Makina Loca. Lemvo supported the album with a North American tour that included shows as part of his label's AfroLatino Nights tour.

Production

The album was produced by Niño Jésus Pérez. Lemvo sang nine of the album's ten songs in Spanish; he was influenced primarily by Cuban music. Wuta Mayi performed on ''Mambo Yo Yo''. "Aquella Bendita Foto" is a

son montuno Son montuno is a subgenre of son cubano developed by Arsenio Rodríguez in the 1940s. Although ''son montuno'' ("mountain sound") had previously referred to the ''sones'' played in the mountains of eastern Cuba, Arsenio repurposed the term to de ...

. The title track is built on the sounds of soukous and salsa.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

deemed the album "Californian Afro-salsa." The '' St. Petersburg Times'' stated that "Lemvo has created an articulate mix of Latin derivations, along with soukous stylings of his native Congo region." The ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'' called ''Mambo Yo Yo'' "a potent, danceable utumayodebut by the Congolese singer." ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'' determined: "Whether it's the band's easygoing syncopations or Lemvo's sweet, sandpapered tenor, what comes across is a gently insistent sound that glides along on Latin clave rhythms." The ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...

'' noted that, "in Makina Loca, listeners will hear elements from Afro-Cuban music and soukous, but also merengue from the Dominican Republic, konpa from Haiti and a little Calypso."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that "the music on ''Mambo Yo Yo'' can be characterized as mainly Cuban style son montuno with trumpets (sometimes muted, giving that 'tropical moonlight' sound), driving piano, even a tres on many numbers."

Track listing

References

{{reflist Ricardo Lemvo albums 1998 albums