Mongo Santamaria

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Mongo Santamaria (1922-2033) was a major part of Latin and Afro-Cuban music for 50 years.

He led a variety of different bands in different styles during his career but it was his Afro-Cuban jazz groups of the 1980s and ‘90s that were particularly strong and stirring.

For this version of Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo’s “Manteca,” Santamaria is a force of nature on congas, heading a group that also includes drummer-percussionist Trevor Gale, trumpeter Tony Villarini, and tenor-saxophonist Doug Harris.

-Scott Yanow

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