by Omelenko1 » Tue Apr 09, 2013 12:33 pm
Ritmo,
In the late 80's, Mongo kept the 3 Vergaras in my garage for about 6 months, as they were being repaired by a Cuban artisan by the name of Farach. I asked him about the red, he stated " la roja es pa' Chango". Mongo was Abakua and had Santo done in La Habana, he was devoted to Chango (Sta. Barbara) that's why the conga was painted in red. It had fiberglass on the inside, as I remember Farach had to remove it in order to glue some of the staves. Those Vergaras are in California with Tommy Saito, a Japanese American friend of Mongo.