Mongo Santamaria - Skin on Skin (1999)

The first cold front of the season passed through yesterday so I'm hoping these Afro-Cuban tunes will take my mind away to Miami for vacation complete with Cuban sandwiches, Cuban cigars, some innocent wagering at a jai alai fronton, and maybe a mojito or three. This is a two CD compilation from Rhino Records covering Santamaria's work from 1958 - 1995, with the exception of the years 1973 - 1986 due to licensing issues, I'm guessing. Santamaria died in 2003 at age 85.

Cuban conguero Mongo Santamaria had such a varied career there's a little bit of everything here: Afro-Cuban, charanga, jazz, Latin, and the funky boogaloo he is most famous for. His two big hits are included in this set: Santamaria wrote Afro Blue (made famous by John Coltrane) and his cover of Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man that reached #10 on the pop chart in 1963. Santamaria's only other top 40 hit, Cloud Nine (#32, 1969) is inexplicably missing. Santamaria was an outstanding bandleader, surrounding himself with energetic musicians and letting them have at it. There's plenty of that throughout these two discs. This. Thing. Grooves.

And as usual, Rhino doesn't disappoint with the liner notes. The 50 page booklet contains six (count 'em, six!) essays about Mongo and his music, detailed track info, discography, and lots of pics.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks:  Disc One (18 songs, 75 minutes, 1958 - 1963) Favorite tracks here are Afro Blue, Mongorama (with Cal Tjader), Guaguanco Mania, Para Ti, Bacoso, Watermelon Man, and Happy Now.

Disc Two (16 songs, 75 minutes, 1965 - 1990) Top tracks are Summertime, Cold Sweat, Saoco, Little Angel, and Manteca. There's nothing I want to skip on either disc, but my go-to Mongo disc remains Afro-American Latin.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Afro-American Latin (2000)

Mongo Santamaria - Afro-American Latin (2000)

My favorite Afro-Cuban album. The liner notes need little elaboration:

Conguero god Mongo Santamaria's Chango mojo is so profound, so ancient-to-future-spirit-cosmic, so muthafunkin' low/high/wide-you-can't-get-under-over-around-it, that it be its own zeitgeist.

Recorded in studio and live in 1968 & 1969, not released until 2000. Santamaria died in 2003 at the age of 85.

Tracks: My least favorite tune is probably the first track, Obatala, so I usually start on the track 2 when listening to this disc. However, that's the only track I skip. Favorite tracks are Mi Reina Guajira (with a tasty trumpet solo by Lew Soloff), Sheila, and Mama Papa Tu. The award for Best Track Title goes to Naked If You Want To.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Sitting in Jim's backyard (which he had dubbed "Jaime's Cantina") smoking cigars, drinking beer, and listening to this CD.