Personnel:
Mongo Santamaria, Silvestre Méndez, Carlos Patato Valdés, Candido, Julio Collazo, Marcelino Guerra, Antar Daly, Guillermo Barreto, Willy Bobo
Reference: CCD 519
Bar code: 8427328205191
Throughout a career so versed in Cuban rhythms, jazz and Latin soul music, Mongo Santamaria recorded very few discs dedicated to Afro-Cuban folklore. It is for this reason that the pleasure of listening to these recordings - brought to you for the first time on CD - is even greater. Even after having worked with Chano Pozo, Cal Tjader and Tito Puente, among many others, many of today's listener will be aware of their timelessness and of the influence they had on numerous discs that were recorded later in the United States. This CD is also meant as homage to Mongo Santamaria - who left us on February 1, 2003.
"Here are the musicians involved: Silvestre Mendez (who was the real leader of the session), Patato Valdez, Candido, Julio Collazo and Willy Bobo. It's really good. Recorded mostly in 1955, the material is a mixture of religious songs, including Nanigo, Abacua, and Lucumi material, along with rumbas, featuring columbias, guanguancos and a conga. There's a coro, and good singing. The recording was a big influence on Tito Puente, with whom Santamaria was working at the time, and a year later Puente recorded a percussion album that echoed what had gone on here. Highly Recommended, for both its music and its historical content."
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