Mongo's Greatest Hits

1. Afro Blue

2. Mi Novia

3. Linda Guajira

4. Pito Pito

5. Mazacote

6. Para Ti

7. Watermelon Man

8. Manteca

9. Sabroso

10. Conga Pa Gozar

11. Federico

12. Mi Guaguanco

13. Para Ti [Alternate Take]

14. Guajiras

Mongo's Greatest Hits,Mongo Santamaria,Fantasy,Afro-Cuban Jazz,Cuban Jazz,Jazz,Latin,Latin Jazz,Salsa

Mongo Santamaria - Greatest Hits [Bonus Tracks]

Average customer rating:

WE GOT LATIN SOUL !
Take this release for what it is!
Pink 'Palm Beach'
A Man Called Mongo.
Smokin' cool beatz...

Mongo Santamaria - Greatest Hits [Bonus Tracks]
Mongo Santamaria
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Cuba | Caribbean & Cuba | International | Styles | Music

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music

Latin Pop | Latin Music | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Soul-Jazz & Boogaloo | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music

4-for-3 International | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Jazz | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 Pop | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

Top Percussion
Afro Roots
Skin on Skin: The Mongo Santamaria Anthology 1958-1995
Willie Bobo's Finest Hour
Mongo at the Village Gate

ASIN: B00004U2GO
Release Date: 2000-07-04

Tracks:

Watermelon Man
Cloud Nine
Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay
We Got Latin Soul
Fat Back
Twenty-Five Miles
Cold Sweat
Green Onions
The Now Generation
La Bamba
El Pussy Cat
Mongo's Boogaloo
Chili Beans
Ah Ha
I Wanna Know
Afro Blue (Live)

Amazon.com

Ever since Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría arrived in the United States from Cuba in the late 1940s and hooked up with bebop legend Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, and Pérez Prado, he's been the most imitated conga drummer in Latin jazz and salsa music. Further, his pioneering flute-violin charanga bands have almost singly expanded the parameters of Latin sounds in America.

These 1960s Columbia Records sides contain his coveted hip-shaking pop covers with flutist Hubert Laws, master santero Julito Collazo, drummer Bernard Purdie, and trumpeter Marty Sheller, with Santamaría and company conjuring up fun and campy red-beans-and-rice versions of Top 40 soul classics. Santamaría lays the boogaloo down on James Brown's "Cold Sweat," the Temptations' "Cloud Nine," Ritchie Valens's "La Bamba" and Booker T. and the MG's' hit, "Green Onions." But make no mistake, Mongo Santamaría was no novelty act. His rendition of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" and his own composition, the 6/8 syncopated standard, "Afro Blue"--recorded by legions of musicians, including John Coltrane, and captured live on this compilation--best showcases his thunderous and articulate polyrhythmic genius linking Africa and the Americas. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews:

WE GOT LATIN SOUL !.......2006-06-17

Mongo Santamaria was one of the best latin jazz artists of his time. Rest in salsa heaven !!

Take this release for what it is!.......2004-03-05

1960's: Early corporate controlled commercial "Latin-Jazz." Read the liner notes. Mongo did it for the opportunity Columbia offered him and for the bread! He was making a living doing what he loved, can't really bust his chops for that. But he was/is a talent and his band had a sound. Okay it's commercial... but so was just about everything else on the radio in the 60's. Think about it... 60's radio, Beatles, Honky Tonk, Commercial Jazz -- the 70's had some alternative/progressive stuff going on early, but then the suits took over... 80's commercialism, 90's commercialism... here we are 21st century... what have we got? 60's radio... commercial, "smooth jazz"... maybe Mongo was the smooth jazz of the 60's... wait, wasn't that the West Coast Jazz scene? Mongo is early Latin Jazz. Earth, Wind and Fire, Santana, Mandrill were all inspired by it. If you're into a heavy jazz experience... this ain't it brother and sisters. But it's ALL good!

Pink 'Palm Beach'.......2003-10-31

The last cut, the exquisite 'Afro Blue' is worth the price of the CD or, at least, that is what I am telling myself now that I own it. 'Watermelon Man' adds the other star for nostalgia's sake and 'Chili Beans' is admittedly funky. What remains though is a strange excursion into commercial bugaloo and R&B - think 'Austin Powers' meets 'Beach Blanket Bingo' - actually painful to listen to. It must have been a case of an artist (get 'Afro Roots' or 'Sabroso') providing what his producers and market demanded. Danceability? If you're throwing a 'Retro-Retro 60's' party, this is the CD for it; bring your pink 'Palm Beach' sport coat and your madras shorts.

A Man Called Mongo........2003-05-22

During his long and extensive career, Mongo Santamaria fused sensual Cuban rhythms with r&b and jazz, making him one of the most revered musicians of our time. This hits collection compiles sixteen of the percussionist's most essential recordings, and they all have "class" written all over them. Covering material from the mid to late 1960s, the music here conjures up images of a hot July beach party, tequilas and all. He admirably covers the Otis Redding classic "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay"--years before Michael Bolton had the chance to butcher it. There's also the groovy sax-flavored "Twenty Five Miles," the breezy "Fat Back," and "Cold Sweat." But this disc saves the best for last with the closing track, a 10 minute live recording of "Afro Blue." If you want to bear witness to the depth of Mongo's talent, then hear this jam, which is a memorable mix of Cuban percussion and traditional jazz. Thanks to the perfect harmony in which the band performs, "Afro Blue" is a brilliant piece of work that gets under your skin and stubbornly stays there. To be honest, I was introduced to Santamaria through my Dad, who was a huge fan of not only jazz, but particularly Latin-flavored jazz. When I learned of Mongo's passing, I revisited his work and decided to pick up this disc, which instantly gave me childhood memories. But even more important than that, this hits collection is a great survey that loudly answers the question, "What was so great about Mongo Santamaria?" The answer lies in this CD.

Smokin' cool beatz..........2002-11-19

I love this cd from it's begin...

Cloud Nine - my fave on this...
We Got Latin Soul - keeps me on my feet...
El Pussy Cat - i just love it's rhythm...
Afro Blue - 'til it's end...

Tracks:

Afro Blue
Mi Novia
Linda Guajira
Pito Pito
Mazacote
Para Ti
Watermelon Man
Manteca
Sabroso
Conga Pa Gozar
Federico
Mi Guaguanco
Para Ti (Alternate)
Las Guajiras

Customer Reviews:

...aw yeah...party over here!..........2001-11-27

take bill cosby (uptown saturday night-bill cosby), quincy jones (sanford and son-funk-style quincy jones), put them in charge of a latin jazz band and let them run rough-shod thru the playboy mansion around midnight...and you pretty much have the gist of what this is all about! you gonna tap yo' toe, you might e'en dance...but you fa'certain gonna enjoy yourself!!

My first Santamaria CD.......2001-02-02

This is the first Mongo Santamaria CD that I have owned. I just love it. Especially the Watermelon Man and the Fat Back.