Mongo Santamaría

Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez was a Cuban percussionist and bandleader who spent most of his career in the United States. Primarily a conga drummer, Santamaría was a leading figure in the pachanga and boogaloo dance crazes of the 1960s. His biggest hit was his rendition of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man", which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. From the 1970s, he recorded mainly salsa and Latin jazz, before retiring in the late 1990s.

7 April 1922

Born on the same birth day (7 April): Almada Negreiros • Andreea Acatrinei • Babatunde Olatunji • Frederick Carl Frieseke • Gregg Jarrett • Gustav Landauer • Ichinojō Takashi • Jan van Roessel • Jennifer Lynch • Kazuki Watanabe (musician) • Kim Kap-soo • Paul Berth • Percy Faith • Robert Charroux • Tama Canning

Born in the same month (April 1922): Doris Day • Harold Washington • Jack Klugman • John Braine • Kingsley Amis • Lawrence N. Guarino • Parren Mitchell • Richard Diebenkorn • Tom Finney • William Manchester • Yevhen Bulanchyk