Santamaria, Ramon

▪ 2004

“Mongo” 

      Cuban-born American conga drummer (b. April 7, 1922, Havana, Cuba—d. Feb. 1, 2003, Miami, Fla.), played for years with mambo stars (Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader) before forming his own bands and becoming a Latin jazz giant himself. He was a top percussionist in Cuba before moving to the United States in 1950. Santamaria recorded music derived from Afro-Cuban religious cults, and he composed the jazz standard “Afro Blue” in the late 1950s and recorded several hits, notably “Watermelon Man” (1963). He went on to add Latin beats to pop and soul music tunes, which led to additional hit records; his fame peaked with the 1970s popularity of salsa music, though his performances continued to be strongly influenced by jazz.

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