Mongo Santamaria's classic jazz composition, "Afro Blue," has been covered by Cal Tjader, John Coltrane, Abbey Lincoln, and many other jazz musicians since it was first performed in the late 1950s. The first recorded version is Mongo Santamaria's performance of his own composition during a concert with Cal Tjader in 1958. This early version of the song features Cal Tjader on vibraphone and in the end, sounds quite different from Mongo Santamaria's later recording in 1958. Nice drumming though.
Santamaria's own recording, sounds more like authentic Afro-Cuban traditional music. It retains the 6/8 time signature and polyrhythms but adds some cool flute and a marimba instead of the vibes. Although the flute is rarely used in Afro-Cuban traditional music, it does add an exotic touch and alludes to the flutes of African folk music. The marimba, on the other hand, is more "African" because it has been proven to be off African derivation, as evidenced in the above picture of Kongolese musicians from the 18th or 17th centuries. In addition to Central Africa, similar instruments were widely used in Mali and other West African countries for centuries if not thousands of years. Indeed, the marimba spread to Latin America and the Caribbean because of the slave trade.
Abbey Lincoln, who married Max Roach and collaborated with him on several occasions, also recorded her own "Afro Blue" with lyrics penned by Oscar Brown, Jr. in 1959. Instead of using Latin percussion, her drummer plays the rhythm on a drumset, which really isn't as interesting as the multiple percussionists using timbales and congas on the aforementioned recordings. Needless to say, Lincoln's version of the song is important for demonstrating how the song has changed throughout its existence as a jazz standard. Furthermore, due to Lincoln's marriage to Max Roach and her often politically-charged work, it comes as no surprise she would choose to record a song inspired by African music and culture.
John Coltrane performed and recorded "Afro Blue" more than once in the 1960s. During this period, Coltrane was moving his music into a spiritual direction that would incorporate influences from India, Africa, Latin America, and the gospel/spiritual traditions of his African-American ancestors (which shouldn't come as a surprise because Coltrane's grandfather was a minister/preacher). Like his version of "Ogunde," an Afro-Brazilian Candomble song dedicated to the god/orisha/orixa Ogun, "Afro Blue" represents another example of Coltrane exploring the African and African-derived music and spirituality of Africa. His recording of the song, like Lincoln's, avoids Latin percussion and is built on McCoy Tyner's piano and Elvin Jones's drumming. So the song retains the polyrhythms of Santamaria's version, but uses saxophone and piano to play the melody. The first video is from a TV performance and the others are live performances. Though each performance is beautiful, Coltrane really loses the "Latin" or Afro-Cuban feel of the song, but for many his interpretations are the definitive versions of "Afro Blue."
Dee Dee Bridgewater, a contemporary jazz vocalist, also recorded her own version which is quite interesting for incorporating African instruments in the beginning. I dislike the electric keys, but I'm glad Bridgewater decided to use the same lyrics Abbey Lincoln used for her 1959 recording. Regardless of my personal aesthetics, Bridgewater still did a great job and this shows that "Afro Blue" will never die as long as musicians and singers continue to record it in interesting and unique ways. The drum solo at the end ain't bad either.
Here are some other interesting versions of Afro Blue
Cal Tjader's 1960s take on "Afro Blue" is interesting as well but doesn't really work with the electric guitar.
Live version of "Afro Blue" from 1985 featuring Max Roach and Tito Puente.
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