MONGO SANTAMARIA

Afro-Cuban Jazz / Latin Rock/Soul / Funk Jazz / Bop • Cuba
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Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría (April 7, 1922 in Havana, Cuba – February 1, 2003) was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. His 1963 hit rendition of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All Stars, etc. He was an integral figure in the fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with R&B and soul, paving the way for the boogaloo era of the late 1960s. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.
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MONGO SANTAMARIA Discography

MONGO SANTAMARIA albums / top albums

MONGO SANTAMARIA Afro Cuban Drums album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Afro Cuban Drums
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1952
MONGO SANTAMARIA Drums And Chants (Authentic Afro-Cuban Rhythms) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Drums And Chants (Authentic Afro-Cuban Rhythms)
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1957
MONGO SANTAMARIA Yambu album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Yambu
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1958
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1959
MONGO SANTAMARIA Sabroso! album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Sabroso!
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1960
MONGO SANTAMARIA Our Man in Havana album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Our Man in Havana
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1960
MONGO SANTAMARIA Arriba-La Pachanga album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Arriba-La Pachanga
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1961
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mas Sabroso album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mas Sabroso
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1961
MONGO SANTAMARIA Go, Mongo! album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Go, Mongo!
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1962
MONGO SANTAMARIA ¡Viva Mongo! album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
¡Viva Mongo!
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1962
MONGO SANTAMARIA Introduces La Lupe album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Introduces La Lupe
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1963
MONGO SANTAMARIA Watermelon Man album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Watermelon Man
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1963
MONGO SANTAMARIA Explodes album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Explodes
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1964
MONGO SANTAMARIA El Bravo! album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
El Bravo!
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1964
MONGO SANTAMARIA La Bamba album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
La Bamba
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1965
MONGO SANTAMARIA El Pussy Cat album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
El Pussy Cat
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1965
MONGO SANTAMARIA Hey! Let’s Party album cover 2.50 | 1 ratings
Hey! Let’s Party
Latin Rock/Soul 1966
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo Explodes  (aka Explosion) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo Explodes (aka Explosion)
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1966
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongomania album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongomania
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1967
MONGO SANTAMARIA Soul Bag album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Soul Bag
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1968
MONGO SANTAMARIA Stone Soul album cover 4.00 | 1 ratings
Stone Soul
Latin Rock/Soul 1968
MONGO SANTAMARIA Workin' on a Groovy Thing album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Workin' on a Groovy Thing
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1969
MONGO SANTAMARIA Feelin' Alright album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Feelin' Alright
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1970
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo '70 album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo '70
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1970
MONGO SANTAMARIA All Strung Out album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
All Strung Out
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1970
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo's Way album cover 3.50 | 2 ratings
Mongo's Way
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1971
MONGO SANTAMARIA Up From The Roots album cover 4.00 | 2 ratings
Up From The Roots
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1972
MONGO SANTAMARIA Fuego album cover 4.25 | 2 ratings
Fuego
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1973
MONGO SANTAMARIA Afro-Indio album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
Afro-Indio
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1975
MONGO SANTAMARIA Sofrito album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
Sofrito
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1976
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo & Justo : Ubane album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
Mongo & Justo : Ubane
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1976
MONGO SANTAMARIA Dawn (Amanecer) (aka Mambomongo) album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
Dawn (Amanecer) (aka Mambomongo)
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1977
MONGO SANTAMARIA A La Carte album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
A La Carte
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1978
MONGO SANTAMARIA Drums and Chants album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Drums and Chants
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1978
MONGO SANTAMARIA Red Hot album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Red Hot
Funk Jazz 1979
MONGO SANTAMARIA Images album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Images
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1980
MONGO SANTAMARIA Summertime album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Summertime
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1981
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo Magic album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo Magic
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1983
MONGO SANTAMARIA Free Spirit album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Free Spirit
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1984
MONGO SANTAMARIA Soy Yo album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Soy Yo
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1987
MONGO SANTAMARIA Soca Me Nice album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Soca Me Nice
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1988
MONGO SANTAMARIA Olé Ola album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Olé Ola
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1989
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo Santamaria And Friends : Mambo Mongo album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo Santamaria And Friends : Mambo Mongo
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1993
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo Returns album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo Returns
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1995
MONGO SANTAMARIA Afro American Latin album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Afro American Latin
Afro-Cuban Jazz 2000

MONGO SANTAMARIA EPs & splits

MONGO SANTAMARIA live albums

MONGO SANTAMARIA Mighty Mongo album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mighty Mongo
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1962
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo at The Village Gate album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo at The Village Gate
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1963
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo Santamaria Explodes At The Village Gate album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo Santamaria Explodes At The Village Gate
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1967
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo at Montreux album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo at Montreux
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1971
MONGO SANTAMARIA Live At Yankee Stadium album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
Live At Yankee Stadium
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1974
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo Santamaria With Dizzy Gillespie And Toots Thielemans ‎: 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo Santamaria With Dizzy Gillespie And Toots Thielemans ‎: "Summertime" - Digital At Montreux 1980
Bop 1981
MONGO SANTAMARIA Live at Jazz Alley album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Live at Jazz Alley
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1990
MONGO SANTAMARIA Brazilian Sunset (aka  Watermelon Man) album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Brazilian Sunset (aka Watermelon Man)
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1995
MONGO SANTAMARIA Montreux Heat album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Montreux Heat
Afro-Cuban Jazz 2003

MONGO SANTAMARIA demos, promos, fans club and other releases (no bootlegs)

MONGO SANTAMARIA re-issues & compilations

MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo Santamaría's Greatest Hits album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo Santamaría's Greatest Hits
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1970
MONGO SANTAMARIA Afro Roots album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Afro Roots
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1972
MONGO SANTAMARIA Skins album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Skins
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1976
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo's Groove album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo's Groove
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1987
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo Explodes / Watermelon Man! album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo Explodes / Watermelon Man!
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1993
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mambomongo album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mambomongo
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1993
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo Santamaría album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo Santamaría
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1996
MONGO SANTAMARIA Skin on Skin: The Mongo Santamaría Anthology (1958-1995) album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
Skin on Skin: The Mongo Santamaría Anthology (1958-1995)
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1999
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo's Way / Up From the Roots album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo's Way / Up From the Roots
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1999
MONGO SANTAMARIA Mongo '70 / Mongo at Montreaux album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Mongo '70 / Mongo at Montreaux
Afro-Cuban Jazz 1999
MONGO SANTAMARIA The Best of the Fania Years album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
The Best of the Fania Years
Afro-Cuban Jazz 2001
MONGO SANTAMARIA Afro-Indio / A la carte album cover 0.00 | 0 ratings
Afro-Indio / A la carte
Afro-Cuban Jazz 2002
MONGO SANTAMARIA Costa Del Oro album cover 5.00 | 1 ratings
Costa Del Oro
Afro-Cuban Jazz 2002

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MONGO SANTAMARIA movies (DVD, Blu-Ray or VHS)

MONGO SANTAMARIA Reviews

MONGO SANTAMARIA Hey! Let’s Party

Album · 1966 · Latin Rock/Soul
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
js
Mongo Santamaria received a lot of criticism from both the jazz and Afro-Cuban establishment for his attempts to mix American RnB with Afro-Cuban rhythms, but to collectors of rare grooves, these records can be treasure troves. The key words here are “can be”, because Mongo’s Latin RnB records are sometimes trite and overly commercial, its hit and miss for the collector looking for some exotic 60s/70s beats when you start digging into the huge stack of Santamaria’s output.

“Hey! Let’s Party” definitely falls into the hit and miss category, there are some great tunes on here, but also some fairly lifeless filler that just follows the Mongo recipe for success, but without the passion. One of the best cuts on here is “Baila Dance”, a hot Latin groove original by Marty Sheller and the only song on the album that isn’t a cover of a pop tune. Mongo’s Latin funk hybrid works magic on “I got You”, a song that often falters for mediocre bar bands all across the world. The best of the rest include a slinky cover of “Satisfaction” and an OK cover of “Shotgun”. The rest of the album is not terrible, but its just not up to what Santamaria is capable of. “Walk on By” is dull and lifeless and do we really need more covers of “Louie Louie” or “In the Mood”.

For the serious collector, there are about three or four songs on here that you might want to get, but if you are looking for something better, try Mongo’s “Stoned Soul”.

MONGO SANTAMARIA Stone Soul

Album · 1968 · Latin Rock/Soul
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
js
There’s nothing too subtle or complicated going on here, ‘Stone Soul’ is just one great party dance record played by some of the best musicians in the business. A lot of aficionados of Afro-Cuban music get down on Mongo for his RnB and pop recordings, but any fan of RnB-jazz will affirm that nothing makes these old soul tunes rock like a three piece Latin percussion section. To pull off his jazz-Cuban-RnB hybrid, Santamaria pulls in some of the best musicians from all three of those musical worlds. Bernard Purdie has always been one of the most in demand RnB drummers of all time, Sonny Fortune and Hadley Callinan are top notch hard bop horn players, and Mongo himself is tops in the world of Afro-Cuban percussion.

The album cover features a classic southern US soul food meal of pork ribs, black-eyed peas, rice and cornbread that lets you know what this music is all about. This is old school blues based southern soul music with a honking sax on the lead melody and always a good jazzy solo or two on each cut. Most of the tunes are medium tempo groove except for two that pick up the pace. ‘The Now Generation’ is one of those early 70s euphoric jazz-pop rockers that has a new uplifting hook every couple of bars and ‘Cloud Nine’ is a high energy soul-jazz reworking of the Temptations psychedelic classic.

Acid jazz and rare groove DJs will kill to get their hands on this sort of groovy semi-kitsch old school funk. Southern soul meets Afro-Cuban groove, it’s a match made in funky heaven.

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