I
didn’t know you long enough, my friend, but in passing you left
behind a trail of memories
for all of us to cherish and learn from.The emptiness in my heart will always be there without your
presence but in your music I have found my dreams.I am but one small grain of sand in the world of Latin music
but add enough of us, Tito, and together we will be strong enough
to carry your dream.
You
live in my heart …
Pete
Rodriguez “El Conde”, may you rest in peace
Few
are those who have touched my life and few those I look up to and
you were one of them.I feel blessed to have known you, to have shared a few words
with you, to have this picture of you and me and to be able to listen
and dance to your music for the rest of my life.
You live in my heart
…
Mongo
Santamaria, may you rest in peace.
Ramon
"Mongo" Santamaria died Saturday, February 1, 2003 at the
age of 86 at Baptist Hospital in Southeast Miami when his heart
stopped after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. Born in the Jesus
Maria section of Havana, Cuba in 1917, Santamaria abandoned his
scholastic efforts at an early age to devote himself to the art of
percussion. He went on to become one of the world's most influential
percussionists fusing Afro Cuban and Jazz rhythms in his drumming.
He began his career in Cuba playing in many of the top night spots
including the legendary Tropicana Club. In 1948 he moved to Mexico
where he began playing with Damaso Perez Prado. A year later he travel
to the U.S. with Perez Prado's band. In 1950, he moved to New
York and became a member of the first charanga formed in New York
under the direction of Cuban composer Gilberto Valdez. In 1951, Santamaria
went on to work in Tito Puente's Orchestra with whom he recorded the
classic Afro Cuban LPs-Puente in Percussion (1955) and Top Percussion
(1957). "Monti", (short for Mongo and Tito) was choreographed
by Eddie Torres as a footwork only piece to the sounds these two master
drummers produced.
In 1958, Mongo left Tito's band for the West Coast to join ranks with
the Swedish-American vibraphonist, Cal Tjader. With Tjader, Santamaria's
fame grew in global proportions. Along with bongosero, Willie Bobo,
this percussive team made musical history in the San Francisco Bay
area. "Afro Blue", Santamaria's most famous composition
was created in 1959 at a television studio in Los Angeles while waiting
for Dinah Shore. He and the pianist were joking around when he conceived the
idea for that song. "Afro Blue" has since been recorded
by over 30 bands. According to Nat Chediak, author of the Latin Jazz
Dictionary, Afro Blue "is a jazz hymn for all times"
In 1962, Santamaria and Bobo left Tjader. In 1963, Santamaria
scored his first Top 10 hit with "Watermelon Man". Mongo
went on to work with an impressive list of the Who's Who within
the Latin and Jazz music industry. With the Fania All Stars in 1977,
he received a Grammy Award for his work on the recording "Amanecer".
This Cuban legend leaves behind a rich legacy of musical excellence.
In 1999 Rhino Records release a double CD retrospective of Mongo's
greatest works over five decades. "The Mongo Santamaria Anthology
1958-1995" is a must for all serious collectors.
Celia
Cruz, may you rest in peace.
May
you rest in peace ....
Another
star has reached the sky
My
soul heavy with sorrow
I
try to gather my thoughts
No
time to cry,
My
dance shoes stare at me in awe
I
pick them up and leave my tears behind
To
dance to you, your music, your dreams, your songs
and
your LIFE!
Celia,
you will forever live in my heart ....
Ode to you, my friend
Nadie sabe los caminos que tomamos
Quienes fuimos y adonde vamos
Solo sabemos que mientras vivos
Hay tantos que adoramos,
Ve en paz, mi amigo fiel
Y algun dia ...contigo de nuevo estare!
Mambo pioneer Israel "Cachao" Lopez dies
Sat Mar 22, 9:27 PM
ET
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Cuban-born
bassist, band leader and mambo pioneer
Israel "Cachao" Lopez died on
Saturday in Miami, media reports said. He
was 89.
Lopez, who immigrated to the United
States from
Cuba in 1962, is credited with
introducing the mambo musical genre to
generations of adoring fans. He died on
Saturday after complications from
kidney failure, the
Miami Herald reported in its online
edition.
Known for years by a singular name,
Cachao, Lopez was a Grammy Award-winning
artist whose work was chronicled in a 1993
documentary by Cuban-American actor
Andy Garcia.
Lopez, a classically trained bassist,
continued to perform until the final months
of his life. He had lived in south Florida
for the past three decades and died at
Coral Gables Hospital near
Miami.
Born in
Havana to a musical family in 1918,
Lopez took to music early and in his teens
had already become an accomplished classical
bassist.
His contribution to modern music began in
the 1930s. Like many other jazz musicians of
his day, Lopez and his brother, Orestes
Lopez, improvised with traditional music. He
experimented with
Afro-Cuban music and developed a new
sound that became the mambo.
Though originally rejected, the musical
genre took flight in the 1950s and became a
jazz staple through much of the next few
decades. After a period of obscurity, Lopez
regained international attention in the
1990s thanks in part to Garcia's work.
Lopez received a Grammy Award in 2004 for
his album "Agora Si!" He also received
accolades in 2006, including concerts at the
Lincoln Center in
New York.
Earlier this month, Lopez traveled to the
Dominican Republic to receive a
lifetime achievement award, the
Herald reported.
Funeral services were scheduled for
Wednesday. Hospital officials declined to
comment and Lopez' daughter, Maria Elena
Lopez, could not immediately be reached for
comment.
(Reporting by Michael Peltier; editing by
Mohammad Zargham)
