Ramón “Mongo” Santamaría (1917–2003) brought the sound of the conga drum from Havana to the world stage. His work with Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, and Herbie Hancock helped define Latin Jazz and Afro-Cuban percussion for generations to come.
Percussion Profiles: Tata Güines
Cuban master conguero Tata Güines is hailed as the godfather of modern conga playing. His crisp and unique sound, rhythmic vocabulary and technical innovations, as well as his prolific body of recorded work, have had an immeasurable impact, however direct or indirect, on every conga player over the past 70 years.
How to Tune Your Conga Drums
One of the first, and most important steps in learning to how to play congas, is learning how to tune them properly. Tuning a conga drum, like tuning any drum, is an oft-overlooked art form, despite the fact that it can be the difference between sounding like a seasoned conguero vs. sounding like a complete beginner.