27/09/2008

Mongo Santamaria - Afro-Roots (1958-59)

«A CD reissue of a mid-'70s repackaging of Mongo Santamaria's first two Fantasy albums, 1958's Yambu and 1959's Mongo, Afro-Roots is superb Latin jazz. Although these were Santamaria's first albums as a leader, the conga player had already worked with Pérez Prado, Tito Puente, and Cal Tjader, giving him absolutely impeccable Latin jazz credentials to go along with his obviously amazing chops. Considering that these albums were recorded for a general jazz audience and the tight, concise arrangements don't allow Santamaria room to stretch out as he did in concert (most of the songs are in the two- to three-minute range), Afro-Roots is still an impressively genuine album; although the '50s were the age of Martin Denny-style exotica kitsch, most of these tracks are extremely traditional Cuban music. Some, like "Bata" and "Timbales y Bongo," are simply hypnotic solos on the titular instruments, while others are traditional Afro-Cuban folk songs and chants. The delightful original "Afro Blue," which quickly became a Latin jazz standard, almost sounds out of place in this setting.» (AMG)

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8 comments:

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Anonymous said...

An absolute classic. Indispensable. Great to see it up on the blog ... if you don't already have this, grab it now!

Thanks as always for the great music...

Anonymous said...

thx!!!!

Sueño cosmopolitA said...

Gracias por mostrarme lo que mi continente puede ofrecer!
Saludos desde Argentina

troods said...

Got here through Never Enough Rhodes. Thank you so much. Every Mongo album is perfect. Glad to have Yambu, particularly. Not in my collection.

tradingfoursj said...

grazie tante.

io e arrivato anche per il blog never enough rhodes.

Anonymous said...

gracias por los discos desde oaxaca mexico

yatesspain.blogspot.com said...

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