Producer – Lex Gillespie

In Development

Sitting down in a Boston deli one day in 1959, Irving Fields faced a puzzling problem. A pianist and composer who loved Latin music, Fields had just finished recording a new album, and he needed a title. His record was an upbeat mix of Latin rhythms and Jewish melodies. As Irving took a bite of his bagel, the title finally hit him: “Bagels and Bongos.” His landmark record sold two million copies worldwide after its release.

The Mamboniks explores the Jewish love of Latin music. In the 1930s, Jewish Americans got their first taste of the music while vacationing in Cuba. But their love for Latin rhythms blossomed on the dance floors of New York in the Fifties.

A new dance was on the rise: the mambo. At New York’s Palladium Ballroom, known as “The Home of the Mambo,” Jewish dancers were captivated by the swinging big bands of Tito Puente, Machito and Tito Rodriguez. They became the mambo’s biggest fans, earning them the nickname, “The Mamboniks.”

Set in New York, Miami Beach, Havana and New York’s Catskill Mountains, The Mamboniks charts the mambo’s rise and fall, all set to an infectious Latin soundtrack. Dancers, musicians, club owners, disc jockeys, talent agents, and record company moguls recall how they were swept up in the mambo craze. “Back then,” recalls Cuban bandleader Jose Curbelo, “Ninety percent of my audience was Jewish. They supported Cuban music because they loved it.”