Mongo Santamaría
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Mongo Santamaria
| For The Record... |
| Born Ramon “Mongo” Santamaria on April 7, 1922, in Havana, Cuba; raised in the city’s Jesus Maria district. Played at famous Havana clubs as a teen such as the Tropicana; moved to Mexico with Perez Prado and his orchestra, 1948; moved to New York City and made his American debut with Prado, 1950; played with Tito Puente’s orchestra, c. 1950-56; played with vibraphonist Cal Tjader’s group, 1957-60; released debut album as a bandleader entitled Yambu, 1958; released Go, Mongo!, which included the Latin jazz standard “Afro Blue,” 1962; returned to the Fantasy label, 1995; performed with various artists, including Willie Bobo, Chick Corea, and Dizzy Gillespie. Addresses: Office—c/o Hook, 78-08 223 St., Flushing, NY 11364-3637. |
Percussionist
Afro-Cuban 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 1972 African 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."
Ramon "Mongo" Santamaria was born on April 7, 1922, in Havana, Cuba. Raised in the city’s Jesus Maria district, Santamaria was exposed to all kinds of Afro-Cuban rhythms—rumbas and Santeria rituals were everywhere. During his childhood, Santamaria first played the violin, but eventually switched to drums, dropping out of school in his teens to become a professional musician. In spite of his youth, he played in some of the city’s most famous pre-Castro clubs, especially the Tropicana. By the early 1940s, Santamaria had established himself as one of Havana’s leading percussionists, participating in an array of bands that drove the city’s flourishing nightlife. One such group, the Orquestra Casino de la Playa, counted another famous Cuban, Perez Prado, among its members. When Prado took his
own band to Mexico City in 1948, he took young Santamaria with him.
In 1950, Santamaria moved to New York City, where he made his American debut with Prado. After spending a total of three years on the road with Prado’s orchestra, he left the ensemble to work with Tito Puente and his band. During the six years spent as a percussionist for Puente’s orchestra, Santamaria eventually became well-known throughout California, earning him a position in 1957 with a pioneering Latin-American jazz band in San Francisco led by vibraphonist Cal Tjader that also featured bassist Al McKibbon, pianist Vince Guaraldi, and a percussion section consisting of Willie Bobo, Louis Kant, and Santamaria’s cousin Armando Peraza.
It was during his tenure with the Tjader group (which lasted until 1960) that Santamaria penned the piece "Afro Blue," a springboard for the formation of his own ensemble, a traditional Latin charanga band billed as Mongo Santamaria y Sus Ritmos Afro-Cubanos. With this group, Santamaria as a bandleader made an impressive debut for the Fantasy label in December of 1958 entitled Yambu, a collection of percussion songs, including the musical highlight "Timbales y Bongo," reflecting religious thought and music in the African tradition. The conga drummer returned in 1959 with a second Fantasy album entitled Mongo, which contained Santamaria’s "Afro Blue," composition. The song immediately became a Latin jazz standard taken up by trumpeters John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and others. Afro-Cubanos soon evolved into the Mongo Santamaria Afro-Latin Group, which included the likes of saxophonist Pat Patrick, who had worked with Sun Ra, and a promising young keyboard player named Armando "Chick," Corea. This group’s first album, Go, Mongo! (first released in 1962 and later packaged with the band’s final Riverside album as Skins in 1976), further cemented Santamaria’s reputation and included his own standout composition "Carmela.,"
Although by now an important figure in both Latin and jazz circles, Santamaria would break through into the mass market in a moment of consequence—the result of a bad night at a Cuban nightclub in the Bronx, New York, in 1962. When only three people showed in the audience for a scheduled gig, the musicians held a bull session, and when a substitute pianist named Herbie Hancock performed a new tune of his entitled "Watermelon Man," all of the band members gradually joined in. Santamaria, for his part, brought his own Afro-Latin rhythmic flourishes to Hancock’s design. Eventually, Hancock’s song became a regular part of Santamaria’s repertoire, and after record producer Orrin Keepnews heard the composition, he immediately pulled the musicians into the studio to record a single. Released in 1963, "Watermelon Man" rose to number ten on the pop charts, and more importantly, pointed to the development of funk music in the 1970s, helping to broaden the fusion of pop and Latin influences.
Upon the success of "Watermelon Man," Santamaria went on to become one of the most prolific composers and recording artists of his generation, producing a lengthy catalog of staggering variety and musical depth that was considered the definitive textbook on Afro-Cuban styles. An essential introduction to anyone wishing to explore the performer’s history can be found in 1972’s Afro Roots, a two-record set that contains tracks recorded between 1958 and 1959. After recording several acclaimed albums for the Riverside label and its subsidiaries, Santamaria signed a high-profile contract with Columbia Records. His association with this label resulted in a wave of danceable albums between 1965 and 1970 that often covered hits of the day. Although these records offered a brighter, brassy sound, aided by trumpeter Marty Shelley, Santamaria never completely let go of his roots and continued to mix genres into the early 1970s.
Subsequently, Santamaria focused on the Afro-Cuban tradition for much of the remainder of his career. In 1987, he released Soy Yo, which found Santamaria bridging the gap between contemporary black pop and AfroCuban music, while 1988’s Soca Me Nice explored the soca, or soul calypso genre. Despite his successes in the studio, however, Santamaria favored producing live records, using this type of recording opportunity to advance his multicultural musical agenda. Some of his most recognized live outtakes include 1963’s Mongo at the Village Gate; 1981’s Summertime, a live gig with Gillespie and Toots Thielemans recorded in 1980; 1990’s Live at Jazz Alley; and 1994’s At the Black Hawk, a CD compilation of two 1962 live releases, Mighty Mongo and Viva Mongo, both recorded at the legendary Black Hawk club in San Francisco.
In 1995, he returned to the Fantasy label, via its subsidiary Milestone, with the release of Mongo Santamaria; Mongo Returns. A two-disc compilation, Skin on Skin: The Mongo Santamaría Anthology, 1958-1995 arrived in 1999 on the Rhino label. By the late 1990s, Santamaria was unable to tour because of health problems. He continued to live in the same apartment that he moved into back in 1964 on New York’s Upper West Side. "I’m not a hero, but I did my best to make everybody happy," the percussionist told Cohen. "Everything I did, I did it with con mucho amor.,"
Selected discography
Yambu, Fantasy, 1958; reissued Original Jazz Classics, 1987.
Afro Roots, Prestige, 1972; reissued, 1989.
Our Man in Havana, Fantasy, 1960; reissued 1993.
Mongo at the Village Gate, 1963; reissued, Original Jazz Classics, 1990.
Mongo Introduces La Lupe, Fantasy, 1963; reissued, Milestone, 1993.
Sabroso, 1959; reissued, Original Jazz Classics, 1993.
Skins, Milestone, 1976.
Summertime, 1981; reissued, Original Jazz Classics, 1991.
Mongo y Su Charanga, Fantasy, 1987.
Soy Yo, Concord Picante, 1987.
Soca Me Nice, Concord Picante, 1988.
Ole Ola, Concord Picante, 1989.
Live at Jazz Alley, Concord Picante, 1990.
At the Black Hawk, Fantasy, 1994.
Mongo’s Greatest Hits, Fantasy, 1995.
Mongo Santamaria; Mongo Returns, Fantasy, 1995.
Skin on Skin: The Mongo Santamaría Anthology, 1958-1995, Rhino, 1999.
Sources
Books
Complete Marquis Who’s Who, Marquis Who’s Who, 1999.
Swenson, John, editor, Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide, Random House, 1999.
Periodicals
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 3, 1999.
Down Beat, March 1996, p. 57; March 1998; November 1999, p. 52.
Fortune, May 24, 1999.
Hispanic, September 1999.
Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1997; October 27, 1997; November 22, 1999; December 17, 1999.
Rolling Stone, May 13, 1999.
Washington Post, December 17, 1997; July 12, 1998; May 14, 1999.
Online
All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com (March 10, 2000).
"Mongo Homepage," A O! Records, http://www.artistsonly.com/mongo.htm (March 10, 2000).
Mongo Santamaría Home Page, http://www.onlinetalent.com/Mongo_Santamaria_homepage.html (March 10, 2000).
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
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Mongo Santamaría
- Genres: Latin
Biography
A Mongo Santamaria concert is a mesmerizing spectacle for both eyes and ears, and even in his seventies, this seemingly ageless Cuban percussionist/bandleader could energize packed behemoth arenas such as the Hollywood Bowl. A master conguero, Santamaria at his best creates an incantatory 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 (a potent example on records is the hypnotic "Mazacote" available on Afro-Roots [Prestige]). He has been hugely influential as a leader, running durable bands that combine the traditional charanga with jazz-oriented brass, wind, and piano solos, featuring such future notables as Chick Corea and Hubert Laws. He also reached out into R&B, rock, and electric jazz at times in his long career. No Cuban percussionist, with the possible exception of Santana's Armando Peraza (and let's not count Desi Arnaz!), has reached more listeners than Mongo.Ramon "Mongo" Santamaria originally took up the violin but then switched to drums before dropping out of school to become a professional musician. A performer at the Tropicana Club in Havana, Mongo traveled to Mexico City with a dance team in 1948 and then moved to New York City in 1950, where he made his American debut with Pérez Prado and spent six years trading percussive barrages with Tito Puente and performing and recording with Cal Tjader (1957-1960). Mongo's first significant recordings in America were made in 1958 for Fantasy; his second Fantasy album, Mongo (1959), contained a composition called "Afro-Blue," which quickly became a Latin jazz standard, taken up by John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and others.
Santamaria's breakthrough into the mass market may have come as a result of a bad night at a Cuban nightclub in the Bronx in 1962. As the story goes, only three people showed up in the audience, so the musicians held a bull session in which the substitute pianist for the gig, Herbie Hancock, demonstrated his new blues tune, "Watermelon Man." Everyone gradually joined in, the number became a part of Mongo's repertoire, and when producer Orrin Keepnews heard it, he rushed the band into a studio and recorded a single that leaped to the number ten slot on the pop charts in 1963.
The success of Santamaria's cross-pollination of jazz, R&B, and Latin music on "Watermelon Man" and a string of Battle and Riverside albums led to a high-profile contract with Columbia that resulted in a wave of hot, danceable albums between 1965 and 1970. With a brighter, brassy sound propelled by trumpeter Marty Sheller's driving charts, often covering hits of the day, the Santamaria band perfectly reflected the mood of the go-go '60s, and Mongo continued to mix genres into the '70s. Santamaria then returned to his Afro-Cuban base, recording for Vaya in the early '70s, teaming with Gillespie and Toots Thielemans for a live gig at Montreux for Pablo in 1980, recording several albums for Concord Picante (1987-1990), a sole effort for Chesky in 1993 and a return to the Fantasy fold via its Milestone subsidiary in 1995. He died on February 1, 2003, at Baptist Hospital in Miami, following a stroke. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Mongo Santamaría
| Mongo Santamaría | |
|---|---|
 Santamaria in 1969 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ramón Santamaría Rodríguez |
| Also known as | Mongo |
| Born | April 7, 1917 |
| Origin | Havana, Cuba |
| Died | February 1, 2003 (aged 85) |
| Genres | Latin jazz |
| Instruments | Congas |
| Associated acts | La Lupe, Tito Puente |
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez (April 7, 1917 in Havana, Cuba – February 1, 2003 in Miami, Florida) was a rumba quinto master and 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. 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. His 1963 hit rendition of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
Mongo Santamaría was one of a handful of Cuban congueros ('conga players') who came to the United States in the 1940s and 50s. Other notable congueros who came to the U.S. during that time include Armando Peraza, Chano Pozo, Francisco Aguabella, Julito Collazo, Carlos Vidal Bolado and Modesto Durán. Many consider Santamaría to have been the greatest conga drummer of the twentieth century.
Santamaría inspired the stage name of Japanese actor Yūsuke Santamaria. Additionally, his name is used as a pun in the film Blazing Saddles. When the character Mongo enters a scene, a Spanish-speaking peasant cries "Mongo! Santa Maria!" before fleeing in terror.
He is buried in Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum (now Caballero Rivero Woodlawn Park North Cemetery and Mausoleum) in Miami, Florida.
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Contents
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Master rumbero
Santamaría learned rumba as a kid in the streets of Havana’s Jesús María barrio. He reminisced: “In the neighborhood where I came from we had all kinds of music, mostly from Africa. We did not leave it alone; we changed it our way. The music we made dealt with religion and conversation. The drum was our tool and we used it for everything" (1979: 19).[1] Gerard points out: “Santamaría, like other drummers of his generation, learned music in the streets by observing different drummers. When he started playing professionally, he learned on the job. His approach was utilitarian, not theoretical” (2001: 29).[2] Santamaría was mentored on bongos and rumba quinto by Clemente “Chicho” Piquero, who played in Beny Moré’s band. He recalled “I would go with Chicho and play the tumbadora and also the [quinto]. I would play everything because I learned a lot from Chicho—because he could play everything" (2001: 137).[3]
When Santamaría soloed in jazz, you heard brilliant phrasing with roots firmly in the folkloric rumba, the authentic rumba of the street where he grew up. In addressing that authenticity, he once told Downbeat Magazine “You can’t learn to play things like guaguancó here . . . You have to have been where it came from . . . You can’t listen to records and get those feelings” (1977: 48).[4] Santamaría recorded some of the very first recorded folkloric rumbas. Because he recorded for mainstream jazz labels, his folkloric records were consistently available to the public. Santamaría's albums tended to list the personnel and their instruments; so record buyers came to know other Cuban rumberos, such as Armando Peraza, Francisco Aguabella, Julito Collazo, Carlos Vidal Bolado, Modeto Duran and Pablo Mozo. The 10 inch 33 1/3 rpm phonorecord Afro-Cuban Drums by Santamaría was recorded in SMC’s New York City studios on November 3, 1952. Santamaría's next recordings with folkloric rumba were on Changó (re-issued as Drums and Chants) recorded in New York (1954). Yambú (1958), Mongo (1959), and Bembé (1960) followed. Santamaría's quinto phrasing was dynamic and creative; he had an unmistakable sound, that was uniquely his own. He did not analyze his personal style: “When I play I don’t know how I do it, or what I do . . . I just play” (2001: 29).[5] The following example is an excerpt from a quinto performance by Santamaría on his composition "Mi guaguancó" (1959).[6] The excerpt shows variations on two main motifs, marked as A and B. Santamaría's repetition of what is typically a secondary phrase (B), makes it the primary motif here.[7]
Band drummer, band leader, innovator
Santamaría began playing bongos with Septeto Beloña in 1937. In the 1940s he worked in the house band of the prestigious Tropicana nightclub. When Chicho could not join a tour in Mexico in the late 40s, he recommended Santamaría for the job. Mexico opened Santamaría up to the wider world beyond his island home. After returning from Mexico in 1950, Santamaría moved to New York City where he became Tito Puente’s conga player. In 1957 Mongo Santamaría joined Cal Tjader’s Latin jazz combo.
In 1959 Santamaría recorded "Afro Blue," the first jazz standard built upon a typical African 3:2 cross-rhythm, or hemiola.[8][9] The song begins with the bass repeatedly playing 6 cross-beats per each measure of 12/8, or 6 cross-beats per 4 main beats—6:4 (two cells of 3:2). The following example shows the original ostinato "Afro Blue" bass line. The slashed noteheads indicate the main beats (not bass notes), where you would normally tap your foot to "keep time."
In 1963 Chick Corea had given notice and Santamaría needed a pianist to fill in for the upcoming weekend gigs. Herbie Hancock got the temporary job. Hancock recalls what happened the night that Santamaría discovered “Watermelon Man" the only tune of Santamaría’s to reach the top of the pop charts:
[Jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd] “came to this supper club to see how I was doing. Anyway, during one of the intermissions, Donald had a conversation with Mongo, something about, ‘What are the examples of the common thread between Afro-Cuban or Afro-Latin music and African-American jazz?’ Mongo said he hadn’t really heard a thing that really links it together, he was still searching for it. And I wasn’t paying much attention to that conversation, it was a little too heavy for me at the time. But then all of a sudden Donald Byrd says, ‘Herbie, what don’t you play ‘Watermelon Man’ for Mongo?’ And I’m thinking, ‘What does that have to do with the conversation they’re talking about?’ I thought it was a little funky jazz tune. So I started playing it, and then Mongo, he got up and he said, ‘Keep playing it!’ He went on the stage, and playing his congas, and it fit like a glove fits on a hand, it just fit perfectly. The bass player looked at my left hand for the bass line, and he learned that. Little by little, the audience was getting up from their tables, and they all got on the dance floor. Pretty soon the dance floor was filled with people, laughing and shrieking, and was having a great time, and they were saying, ‘This is a hit! This is fantastic!’ It was like a movie! So after that, Mongo said ‘Can I record this?’ I said ‘By all means.’ And he recorded it, and it became a big hit. That’s how it happened” (2001: 54).[10]
The sudden success of the song propelled Santamaría into his niche of blending Afro-Cuban and African American musics. Santamaría went on to record Cuban-flavored versions of popular R&B and Motown songs and played congas on the Temptations's hit “Cloud Nine” (1969).
Discography
As leader
- Afro-Cuban Drums SMC Pro-Arte 592 33 1/3 10 in. rpm phonorecord (1952)
- Drums and Chants (Changó) Vaya CD 56 (1954)
- Tambores y Cantos (1955)
- Yambu: Mongo Santamaria y Sus Ritmos Afro Cubano (1958)[11]
- Mongo Fantasy phonorecord 3291 (1959) featuring the first recording of "Afro-Blue."
- Afro Roots (Yambú, Mongo) Prestige CD 24018-2 (1958, 1959)
- Our Man in Havana (1959)
- Mongo en La Habana (1960) with Carlos Embale and Merceditas Valdés
- Sabroso! (1960) - with tresero and composician Andrés Echeverría
- Go, Mongo! (1962)
- Watermelon man! (1963) (Battle Records)
- Mongo At The Village Gate (1963) (Riverside Records)
- El Bravo! (1964)
- La Bamba (1965)
- Pussy Cat (1965)
- "Hey! Let's Party" (1967)
- Afro-American Latin (1969)
- Stone Soul (1969)
- Mongo´70 (1970)
- Feelin' Alright (1970)
- Mongo's Way (1971)
- Up From the Roots (1972)
- "Fuego" (1972)
- Ubané (1974) with Justo Betancourt on vocals[12]
- "Afro-Indio" (1975)
- Sofrito (1976)
- Amanecer (1977) - won a Grammy award
- Red Hot (1979)
- Summertime (1981) with Dizzy Gillespie and Toots Thielemans
- Soy Yo (1987)
- You Better Believe It (1979)
- Mambo Mongo (1993)
- Mongo Returns (Milestone Records, 1995)
- Conga Blue (1995)
- Come on Home (1997)
- Mongo Santamaria (1998)
As sideman
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This section requires expansion. |
With Dizzy Gillespie
- Afro (Norgran, 1954)
With Lalo Schifrin
- Che! (soundtrack) (Tetragrammaton, 1969)
References
- ^ Smith, Arnold (1977: 19). "Mongo Santamaría, King of the Cuban Congas." Downbeat April 21.
- ^ Gerard, Charley (2001: 29). Music from Cuba: Mongo Santamaría, Chocolate Armenteros, and Cuban Musicians in the United States. ISBN-10: 0275966828
- ^ Mongo Santamaría interview, Smithsonian Institution Jazz Oral History Program 1996; cited by Gerard (2001: 137).
- ^ Mongo Santamaría quoted by Smith (1977: 48)
- ^ Mongo Santamaría quoted by Gerard (2001: 29).
- ^ "Mi guaguancó," Mongo (Mongo Santamaría). Fantasy CD 8032 (1959).
- ^ Peñalosa, David (2010: 61). Rumba Quinto. Redway, CA: Bembe Books. ISBN 1-4537-1313-1
- ^ "Afro Blue," Afro Roots (Mongo Santamaria) Prestige CD 24018-2 (1959).
- ^ Peñalosa, David (2010: 26). The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins. Redway, CA: Bembe Inc. ISBN 1-886502-80-3.
- ^ Herbie Hancock quoted by Gerard (2001: 54)
- ^ www.allmusic.com (Macrovision Corporation). Retrieved 2009-06-30
- ^ Raul A. Fernandez, From Afro-Cuban rhythms to Latin jazz, University of California, 2006.
External links
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Mentioned in
La Lupe
(Latin Artist, '60s-'90s)
Latin-Soul-Rock
(1974 Album by Fania All-Stars)
Salsa
(1988 film)
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