Bongo icons: from New York to San Juan to Santo Domingo

Latin Beat Magazine, Nov, 2003 by Luis Tamargo, Rudy Mangual

There's an old Spanish saying in the Caribbean that states, "Cuba y Puerto Rico son de un ave las dos alas" (Cuba and Puerto Rico are two wings of one bird). Both Caribbean islands share many historical paths, customs and cultural ties. As for the music of Cuba, Puerto Ricans have always been one of the major protagonists of Affo-Cuban rhythms, as well as of all other Afro-Caribbean rhythms.

It has been proven that it is not necessary to be Cuban to be a marvelous bongó player, as exemplified by the one and only José Mangual Sr., alias "Buyú." Born in Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico, Buyú mastered all the Latín percussion instruments, especially the bongó, making him a leading session player in New York City since his arrival in 1939. He worked with Machito's popular orchestra for 17 years (1942-1959) and recorded several albums with jazz and Latin giants, including Tito Puente's Babarabatiri (1951), Count Basie's April in Paris (1955), Gillespie's Talkin' Verve (1957), Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain (1959), Willie Bobo's Spanish Grease (1965), and Gato Barbieri's ¡Viva Emiliano Zapata! (1974). As a leader, he first recorded an instructional album titled Understanding Latin Rhythms, vol. 1 (1974), which became one of the most popular learning tools for percussionists in over two decades. In 1977, he released the self-titled albura Buyú, which clearly demonstrated his percussive force and savvy.

His two sons, Luis and José Mangual Jr., have followed the family's musical tradition, creating the Mangual dynasty of percussionists, all favoring the bongó. José Mangual Jr. worked closely for many years with his father and brother as well as with many of the Big Apple's top salsa bands. Currently, he co-leads the reputable N.Y.C.-based band Son Boricua, in conjunction with legendary vocalist/percussionist Jimmy Sabater (of Joe Cuba Sextet fame). Younger brother Luis Mangual, leader of his own outfit, Conjunto Mangual, is currently enjoying the release of Mueve La Cintura, on his own label.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Puerto Rican parents, José Manuel Oquendo, better known as Manny Oquendo (timbal/bongó player and leader of the world-renowned band Conjunto Libre) first worked with the bands of José Curbelo, Pupi Campo, Marcelino Guerra, Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez and Noro Morales (1945 1959). In the 1960s, he joined Eddie Palmieri's La Perfecta, further perfecting his Cuban-derived sound and style on the bongó and timbal. He also worked with Cachao's orchestra and was a founding member of Grupo Folklórico Experimental Nuevayorquino before assembling Conjunto Libre in 1976. Libre, as the band is presently called, continues to be a training base for New York City-based Latin musicians, under the guidance of its legendary master percussionist.

Another legendary Puerto Rican bongosero who was in much demand in the New York Latin scene for several decades was Johnny "La Vaca" Rodríguez. He was a member of the Noro Morales band for about twenty years (1945-1965) and one of the top session players in town. His son, Johnny "Dandy" Rodríguez Jr. continued the family tradition, played with the Ray Barretto band and later became a founding member of the popular Típica 73 band. Dandy also enjoyed a long tenure with the Tito Puente Orchestra along with tumbador José Madera.

In 1949, Miguelito Valdés' New York based 14 piece orchestra featured a bongosero by the name of Little Ray Romero. A native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Little Ray paid his dues while performing with the bands of Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, Eddie Palmieri and Armando Sánchez's Son de la Loma, among others.

For more than 40 years, the Eddie Palmieri band has been the home of some of the top percussionists in the business. Throughout the seventies, Tommy "Chuckie" López was the featured bongó player in the band, taking the twin drum instrument to another level in the company of percussionists Eladio Pérez and Nicky Marrero. Other exceptional percussionists to grace the band included Anthony Carrillo (categorized by Eddie Palmieri as "the world's greatest bongosero"), Giovanni Hidalgo (the wizard of the tumbadoras and any other drumming artifact known to mankind), Paoli Mejias and Richie Flores (the young blood of the skin instruments), Francisco Aguabella, José Claussell, George Delgado and Johnny Rodriguez, Jr.

Puerto Rican percussionist/bandleader Rafael Cortijo began his musical career playing bongó with Conjunto Monterrey. In 1954, he formed his own band, Cortijo y su Combo, featuring Ismael Rivera on vocals and Rafael Ithier on piano. The band rapidly gained popularity through its typical Puerto Rican bombas and plenas (the traditional rhythms of the island) and the singing talents of a young Ismael Rivera. Later on, Cortijo would bring into the ensemble a young dancer/bongó player by the name of Roberto Roena, who would revitalize the baud with his choreography and percussive talents. In 1962, pianist Rafael Ithier left Cortijo with about half of the members of the band (including Roberto Roena) to form El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. With the advent of the U.S. embargo with Cuba in 1960, more and more Puerto Rican musicians at home as well as in the U.S. mainland continued to invigorate the rhythms of their sister island Cuba.