Mongo Santamaria, Latin jazz Artist

This week’s Featured Artist is considered by many to have been the greatest conga drummer of the twentieth century.  He was a Latin jazz percussionist, and is famous for being the composer of the jazz Standard “Afro Blue”, and his 1963 rendition of HerbieHancock’s “Watermelon Man”.  He was also instrumental in fusing Afro-Cuban rhythms with R&B and soul.  Meet – Mongo Santamaria

Born in Havana, Cuba

Genre: Latin Jazz

Afro-Cuban conga player, percussionist, and bandleader Mongo Santamaria is one of the most influential players of his generation. A popular performer since 1963, the year the Herbie Hancock-penned “Watermelon Man” reached the pop charts in the United States, Santamaria has explored his own Cuban musical roots throughout his career and has blended elements of jazz, rhythm and blues, rock, and popular music with the traditional sounds of his homeland.  A “mesmerizing spectacle for both eyes and ears” in concert, the master percussionist “creates an incantory spell rooted in Cuban religious rituals, quietly seating himself before his congas and soloing with total command over the rhythmic spaces between the beats while his band pumps out an endless vamp,” asserted All Music Guide contributor Richard S. Ginell.  In addition to his ability to captivate an audience (evidenced on the hypnotic “Mazacote” from his 1972African Roots album), Santamaria has proven himself a powerful bandleader as well.  Many future notables have passed through Santamaria’s ranks or collaborated with the conga player, from Nat Adderly and Jimmy Cobb, through Chick Corea, Hubert Laws, and Bob James.  According to music historians, no Cuban percussionist, with the exception of Santana’s Armando Peraza (and not counting Desi Arnaz), has reached as many listeners as Santamaria.

Touring and recording songs well into his late seventies, Santamaria in his later years has expressed his annoyance over the name given to his generation’s music by critics and the press when several entertainers revived Cuban-influenced music during the 1990s.  “What they call `salsa’ is the Afro-Cuban music that we did 50 years ago,” he told Aaron Cohen of Down Beat in November of 1999.  “I don’t see calling it a new thing. We used to call it mambo, guaracha,guanco, and every other name. Today they take everything and just call it salsa.  It’s an economical thing–with the Cuban Revolution, they tried to forget the music had anything to do with Cuba.”

Biographical information courtesy of Musicianguide.com; for more reading see link below

http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608002588/Mongo-Santamaria.html