Thomas Altmann wrote:Hi beatnik,
... it was really Mongo who played bongo on this one (in addition to the congas). I can't remember where he got that information from.
Greetings, Thomas
I agree. I heard Mongo talking on the radio once and remember him saying he had injured his hand playing that bongo solo on Mazacote. Even though Mongo started out as a bongocero, in this performance, he switched from conga to bongo in the middle of the song just for the solo without adjusting his technique and was hitting the bongo like a conga. The bongo solo is definitely Mongo's style not Armando's style, and you can hear how hard he was hitting.
I think it was in that same interview Mongo called some of the percussionists in Central Park concussionists. He must have been commenting on the quality not the loudness of playing in the CP rumba, because Mongo was famous for his congas being the only instrument you could hear clearly from outside the Palladium, and that was without a microphone. He also had lots of problems with his hands in his later years. Dario, do you agree? Do you have any inside information on Mongo's playing on that cut?