(b. 7 April 1917 in Havana, Cuba; d. 1 February 2003 in Miami, Florida), bandleader and percussionist whose album Dawn (Amanecer) (1977) won a Grammy Award.

Santamaría was born to Ramón Santamaría Gímenez and Felicia Rodríguez Bazan in the working-class Jesús María barrio of Havana. Although several publications list his birth year as 1922, Santamaría himself confirmed 1917 as his year of birth. Santamaría’s father, a construction worker who lived apart from the family, gave Santamaría the nickname Mongo, a Senegalese term meaning “chief of the tribe.” Santamaría’s mother sold coffee and cigarettes to support the family. Santamaría had one brother and two sisters.

The barrio where Santamaría came of age had a strong African culture as well as a strong religious tradition of ceremonies that included music. Santamaría’s grandmother used to take him to Santería ceremonies. His uncle had a music group, and Santamaría used to watch them rehearse. Although his mother wished for Santamaría to play the violin, his true passion lay with percussion. Santamaría dropped out of school in the seventh grade to work as a mechanic and taught himself maracas, bongos, conga, and timbales.

In 1937 Santamaría joined the Septeto Bolona, a son group, and played with them for two years. He also played on the Mil Diez radio station and performed with musicians such as Celia Cruz and Pedro Flores. In 1940 Santamaría became a mailman but continued to play music at clubs such as the famous Tropicana. In 1948 Santamaría took a three-month leave of absence to accompany a dance troupe to Mexico City and then to New York City, where he played with the orchestra of Miguelito Valdés for a week. He also worked with Johnny Segui’s Los Dandies and through that group met the percussionist and bandleader Willie Bobo.

Santamaría returned to Mexico City for a year-and-a-half to obtain a visa and spent time in Cuba...