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Mozambique refers to two separate styles of music.
Mozambique (pron.: mo.sam.'βi.ke) is a vigorous style of Cuban music and dance derived, like the conga, from music of Cuban street carnivals or comparsas. It was invented or developed by Pello el Afrokan (Pedro Izquierdo) in 1963.
Although the rhythm shares many characteristics with Sub-Saharan African music traditions, it does not have anything to do with music from the African nation of Mozambique. The Cuban mozambique features conga drums, bombos (bass drums), cowbells and trombones. [See: "Mozambique Lesson in Cuba, 1985" (Pello el Afrokan), and "Mozambique Rhythm from Cuba" (Kim Atkinson). Pello's composition "María Caracoles" was later recorded by Carlos Santana.
Pello's rhythm made its début in 1963 in Havana on the television programme Ritmos de Juventud, with the presenter surrounded by drummers so in tune with each other that they created a piano-like sound, while simultaneously performing the Mozambique dance.
The dance consists of bending the knee and lowering the body at the same time as lifting up a foot while returning the body to its normal upright position, continuing to bend the knees, and lowering the body. The dance looks like a cross between the "timeless" Afro-Cuban rumba and son, and the African-American twist, which was popular in the States during the early 1960s.