Joe Rizo's Mongorama

Joe Rizo's Mongorama: Mariposas Cantan

by Chris M. Slawecki
April 22, 2021

Mongorama is a nine-piece Latin Jazz all-star band built and guided to honor Mongo Santamaria by the hand of José Rizo, a Latin musical legend in California who's been broadcasting from KJazz 88.1FM (Cal State University, Long Beach) for more than three decades. On their 2010 debut, Rizo enlisted such legends as Poncho Sanchez and Hubert Laws for masterclass versions of Santamaria's epic “Guajira at the Blackhawk" and “Las Guajiras," plus several originals by Rizo, who writes for, leads and ...