The Afro-Cuban Music of Mongo Santamaria

The Afro Cuban Music of Mongo Santamaria always delights, much the same way a Cuban pressed sandwich tantalizes the taste buds.

The meat of the Cuban folk music melding perfectly with the tartness of the jazzy brass sounds.

Mongo's latin funk is music that always leaves you satisfied.

Cuban born Mongo Santamaria (1917-2003) is probably best known for the jazz standards "Watermelon Man" and "Afro Blue", the former penned by pianist Herbie Hancock, the latter was even given the royal treatment by jazz saxophone legend John Coltrane.

Here's a list of the most purchased Mongo Santamaria albums.

"Afro Blue"

This rendition of Afro Blue is really faithful to the Cuban tradition, certainly has an authentic Cuban folk vibe, and really doesn't feel like jazz proper at all to me. Mongo's original is done in 12/8 time, with a softer edge.

John Coltrane's version below is done in 3/4 "waltz" time, and really is one my personal favorite Coltrane soloing vehicles, all the live versions from Coltrane always boil over into God-like territory.

Something about the haunting Santamaria melody and Trane's soprano sax. I lean toward this Live at Birdland version being the definitive performance of Afro Blue.

If there is but one album of Mongo Santamaria music in your Collection, this Columbia Records compilation is the one to get. Almost all of the albums this best of draws from are from out of print CD's or never have been reissued on CD at all.

Some of the hottest tracks of Mongo's career were laid down on vinyl during the 60's for Columbia, James Brown's "Cold Sweat" gets the Cuban treatment, as well as Richie Valens' "La Bamba", Otis Redding's "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" gets a slightly heated make over.

 "Cloud Nine" and "Green Onions" get conga groove makeovers as well.

Not a dud on the whole compilation, the CD reissue has remastered sound plus adds a 10 minute live version of Mongo's standard "Afro Blue", that is worth a repurchase if you already have it on vinyl.

I urge any fan of Afro beat or Latin funk to get as many of the original Columbia vinyl copies of Mongo's 60's albums as possible, for they are the Rosetta Stone of Latin Funk in my mind.

"Watermelon Man"

Mongo's version of "Watermelon Man" was initially issued as a single, and as mentioned above, a mega hit, quickly a long player was rushed out to capitalize on the success of the single.

Mainly the early Mongo tunes are in the 2-3 minute range, offering more of same good time dance grooves, and for me, the trumpet of Marty Sheller stands out the most, with a delightfully cliched trumpet.

 This guy can party down with the best of them, you won't confuse him with Dizzy Gillespie, but he fits perfectly on top of Mongo's groovin' beat.

Mongo, a virtuoso conga player, which is a Cuban drum that is played with your hands rather than sticks, the commercial success of Watermelon Man pushed Mongo in a more pop direction.

Columbia Records and bogaloo music

Santamaria then moved to Columbia Records, which saw him join the boogaloo movement, almost all of Santamaria's Columbia output has been long neglected on Compact Disc, only the Greatest Hits is widely available right now, but what a sampler that is.

I believe this particular style influenced Carlos Santana and his band Santana a great deal, Mongo also throughout the 70's, melded the Afro Cuban styles with funk to form his own unique form of Latin funk.

Any of Mongo's albums from 1959 to 1976 are worthy of any jazz or R&B collection, one such album, is Afro Indio, a very tough to find session in its original vinyl form, the album has some very ahead of it's time synthesizer mixed in with the Afro Cuban Latin funk.

One of my personal favorites is the Atlantic Records release Mongo '70, a heavy duty Latin funk workout, with just enough of a 70's action film vibe to drive you wild.