Remembering Mongo Santamaria, born on this day in 1917.

Born in the Havana neighborhood of Jesús María in 1917, the percussionist and congero player Ramón Santamaría (Havana, April 7, 1922 – Miami, February 1, 2003) abandoned his studies at a young age to dedicate himself to the timbales. But his musical triumphs began to materialize in 1948, when he traveled to Mexico and joined Dámaso Pérez Prado’s orchestra, with whom he traveled to the United States a year later. It was in New York where Mongo Santamaría—the name by which he would forever be known artistically—lived and practiced his career for four decades.

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In 1951, Mongo joined Tito Puente’s orchestra, with whom he recorded two classic Afro-Cuban percussion albums: “Puente in Percusión” (1955) and “Top Percusión” (1957). However, his international fame came after he left Puente’s orchestra and teamed up with vibraphonist Cal Tjader, starting in 1958. Along with Tjader and bongo player Willie Bobo, Mongo Santamaría made history in San Francisco for four years, but at the same time he continued to make solo recordings of the music that interested him.

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After “Tambores y Cantos” (1955), he recorded “Mongo” (1959), an album that contains the song “Afro Blue,” perhaps his most memorable composition. In 1960, he traveled to Cuba and recorded two true gems: “Mongo en La Habana,” with Carlos Embale and Merceditas Valdés, and “Sabroso,” with the tres player and composer Andrés Echeverría, nicknamed “El Niño Rivera.” Upon his return to the United States in 1962, Mongo’s unorthodox charanga began to naturally shift toward jazz. Among the musicians he hired at that time for his jazz forays were figures of the stature of pianist Chick Corea, flautist Hubert Laws, and trumpeter Marty Séller, who would become a close collaborator of Santamaría and the band’s arranger.

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The 1962 song “Watermelon Man” marked Mongo Santamaría’s first major hit, spending six weeks on the top ten charts in the United States. By 1963, Mongo was leading what would become the Latin jazz ensemble of the future, featuring piano, bass, percussion, and a brass band. He recorded with the Fania All Stars in 1977 and won a Grammy Award a year later for his album “Amanecer.” Shortly after, at the 1980 Montreux Festival, he collaborated for the first time on a historic recording with Dizzy Gillespie, with whom he would later travel to Havana. Mongo’s discography includes more than 40 titles, both as a soloist and in groups. His most recent recordings include “Mambo Mongo” (1993), “Mongo Returns” (1995), “Conga Blue” (1995), and “Come on Home” (1997).

Mongo Santamaría died in the early hours of February 1, 2003, at his Miami home, victim of cardiac arrest, at the age of 86. His death marked the passing of one of the celebrities of 20th-century Cuban music and the conga player who had the greatest influence on the development of Latin jazz.

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Mongo Santamaría – Barandanga

The album ‘Our Man in Havana’ was recorded in Havana, in the convulsive year 1959, Mongo traveled to the Cuban capital in the company of his friend Willie Bobo who participated as a timbalero.

The arranger of the work was the tresero Niño Rivera and a cast that included the best musicians of the moment in Havana, Armando Armenteros (Chocolate’s cousin) on trumpet, Paquito Hechavarría on piano and Papito Hernández on bass. Among the numbers on this album, this piece should be highlighted, ‘Barandanga’, a work by Armando Peraza.

Mongo Santamaria – Sabroso! (Full Album)

Track list:

Mongo Santamaria – Sabroso! (Full Album) (Full Album)

1 | 00:00 | Mongo Santamaría – Que Maravilloso 2 | 02:49 | Mongo Santamaría – En La Felicidad 3 | 04:58 | Mongo Santamaría – Pachanga Pa Ti 4 | 07:22 | Mongo Santamaría – Tulibamba 5 | 11:23 | Mongo Santamaría – Mambo De Cuco 6 | 15:19 | Mongo Santamaría – El Bote 7 | 19:19 | Mongo Santamaría – Pito Pito 8 | 22:04 | Mongo Santamaría – Guaguanco Mania 9 | 24:36 | Mongo Santamaría – Ja, Ja-Ja 10 | 27:41 | Mongo Santamaría – Tula Hula 11 | 30:22 | Mongo Santamaría – Dimelo 12 | 32:00 | Mongo Santamaría – A La Luna Me Voy 13 | 36:07 | Mongo Santamaría – Para Ti