• 180-GRAM VIRGIN VINYL
• THE COMPLETE LP + 2 BONUS TRACKS
• LIMITED EDITION OF 500 COPIES

Ramón “Mongo” Santamaría Rodríguez (“Mongo” is Cuban slang for Ramón) is best known for being the composer of the jazz standard “Afro Blue,” recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he became an integral figure in the fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with R&B and soul, paving the way for the boogaloo era of the late 1960s.

His 1963 hit rendition of Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.This release presents Mongo’s complete LP Mongo Introduces La Lupe, on which he is joined on some tracks by singer Guadalupe Victoria Yoli Raymond, known as “La Lupe.”

PERSONNEL:

MONGO SANTAMARÍA - (conga and bongo drums), with:

MARTY SHELLER - (trumpet)
“CHOCOLATE” ARMENTERAS- (trumpet on A5 & B1 only)
PAT PATRICK & BOBBY CAPERS- (flute and saxophones)
RENÉ HERNÁNDEZ or RODGERS GRANT (on A4 & B4 only)- (piano)
VÍCTOR VENEGAS- (bass)
“KOKO”, OSVALDO MARTÍNEZ, FRANK VALERINO- (Latin percussion)
LA LUPE - (vocals (on A1, A3, A5, B2 & B3 only).

Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios, New York City.

(*) BONUS TRACKS:

A6: Mongo Santamaría (cga), Willie Bobo (timbales), El Fine, Armandito Armenteros (tp), Julio (fl), Paquito
Hechavarría (p), Gustavo “Gustavito” Tamayo (guiro), Papito, Bol (bass), Rogelio “Yeyito” Rivero (bongos,
triangle), Niño Rivera (tres). Recorded in Havana, Cuba.

B5: Mongo Santamaría (Conga drums), Marty Sheller (tp), Pat Patrick (as, fl), Bobby Capers (ts, fl), Rodgers
Grant (p), Victor Venegas (b), Frank Hernández, Kalil Madi (d), Kako, Joseph Gorgas (percussion), Osvaldo
“Chihuahua” Martínez (percussion & vocals). Recorded in New York.

TRACKS:

A1 BESITO PA TI
A2 KINIQUA
A3 CANTA BAJO
A4 UNCLE CALYPSO
A5 MONTUNEANDO
A6 LINDA GUAJIRA (*)

B1 QUÉ LINDAS SON
B2 OYE ESTE GUAGUANCÓ
B3 ESTE MAMBO (THIS IS MY MAMBO)
B4 QUIET STROLL
B5 WATERMELON MAN (*)