Mongo Santamaria - Mongo - Best Of Vaya Recordings 1973-1980 '2004

Tracks list

 Cuban born Mongo Santamaria is best known for his work in the 50s and 60s as
one of the best percussionist ever with Pérez Prado, Tito Puente, and Cal
Tjader and for such songs as Afro-Blue and Watermelon Man. That period has been
compiled many times over, so the Vampi Soul have seen fit to release a
compilation featuring his years spent at the Vaya label between 1973 to 1980.

During this time Mongo released a slew of funky, latin jazz, Afro-Cuban
influenced, soulful albums that eventually move into the disco realm. The albums
sampled here include Fuego, Live at Yankee Stadium, Dawn - Amanecer, Afro-Indio,
Sofrito, A La Carte, and Images.

Vampi Soul has done a fine job spotlighting this lesser known period in Mongo
Santamarias career. The only album they skip is the Drums and Chants album which
was a collection of traditional chants with drums as an instruction record.
Whether you like Mongos original sound or the 70s disco/funk sound, this
compilation will not let you down.

The compilation starts out with 4 tracks from the Fuego album - Fingers, Crazy
Lady, Malcolm X, and Teminha Pra Bebe. After the brief introduction, Fingers
kicks in with some sweet percussion and distorted guitars making it sound like a
blaxploitation soundtrack. It grooves for a sweet 5 minutes and you wont want it
to end. Crazy Lady is a bass heavy organ groover with pounding rhythm and
blazing horns. Malcolm X has a back to the jungle vibe with some uptown horns,
while Teminha Pra Bebe has a lighter Brazilian jazz groove with some sweet
trumpet.

Next up are a slew of live tracks from the Live at Yankee Stadium album,
including Dr. Gasca, Cousin Jody, Coyulde and Black Dice. Mongo really lets the
percussion rip on these blazing live tracks. Coyulde has some call and response
vocals (most of this disc is instrumental) with a Caribbean vibe, but for the
most part these tracks are funky workouts.

There are a couple of tracks from the Dawn - Amanacer album, including the
weirdest named tracks here called Happy As A Fat Rat In A Cheese Factory and
Jelly Belly. He also covers the percussion classic Manteca. Mongo starts getting
electronic sounding on the weird named tracks, bringing in the funky disco vibe.
Manteca ends the compilation and is a monster percussion workout with a jazzier
flare than the other two more 70s sounding tracks.

Mongo Santamaria continues the disco vibe with four tracks taken from the
Afro-Indio album, including Funk Up, Mambomongo, Funk Down, and Lady Marmalade.
Funk Up and Funk Down are of course...funky, while Mambomongo brings in the
Cuban sound with electric keyboards, thick bass, charted hornlines and the
percolating percussion, letting him and his group stretch out. The cover of Lady
Marmalade is funky and strange with only a hint of the vocals left, but the horn
melody is fitting to the Mongo sound.

There are two tracks from the A La Carte album - Hey, You Sexy Thing and
Umbalayeo. Hey, You Sexy Thing has an elastic sounding bassline, while Umbalayeo
is a brief but cool percussive workout with some more of the Afro call and
response vocals. Its just too bad it fades after a mere 2 and a half minutes
instead of grooving for longer.

The albums Sofrito and Images both feature a track each on this compilation
including Secret Admirer and TV. Secret Admirer sounds like the theme to a
groovy 70s tv show, while TV actually sounds like more typical 70s jazz.

---Patrick, January 4, 2006
TRACKLIST:

1 Fingers 4:54
2 Crazy Lady 4:31
3 Malcolm X 4:37
4 Terminha Pra Bebe 2:00
6 Dr. Gasca 5:07
7 Cousin Jody 4:37
8 Coyulde 4:24
9 Black Dice 4:32
10 Happy As A Fat Rat In A Cheese Factory 2:51
11 Funk Up 3:18
12 Lady Marmalade 3:12
13 Jelly Belly 3:39
14 Secret Admirer 4:27
15 Hey, You Sexy Thing 4:15
16 Umbalayeo 2:31
17 Hey, You Sexy Thing 4:15
18 T.V. 3:04
19 Manteca 6:39

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