On February 1, 2003, Ramón “Mongo” Santamaría Rodríguez died aged 85. Being a rumba quinto master and an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist, he has perfomed and recorded with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All Stars, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Lalo Schifrin and Paul Horn. His 1977 album “Amanecer” won a “Grammy” award, and his hit rendition of Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man” was inducted into the “Grammy Hall of Fame” in 1998. He is composer of the jazz standard “Afro Blue”, recorded by John Coltrane among others.
