7

FRIDAY

Cubans don’t do all their swinging on the baseball field. Eighty-one-year-old acoustic bassist Cachao invented the oscillating rhythm of mambo in 1938 and followed that innovation in 1957 with descargas, a jam-session format that incorporates jazzy improvisation into underlying percussion. After leaving Cuba in 1962, Cachao soon found himself relegated to playing weddings and bar mitzvahs until actor Andy Garcia brought him out of obscurity with a documentary film and a planned series of CDs. Cachao is known as much for his encyclopedic musical knowledge, band leadership, and arranging skills as he is for his bowing and plucking, so expect him to give a joyous and eclectic musical lesson. Openers Ricardo Lemvo and his band Makina Loca will present their own lesson in the history of Cuban music, exploring its African roots with a danceable mix of Congolese guitar-based rumba and Cuban son montuno. At 7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. $20-32. (202) 467-4600. (Steve Kiviat)