Trove Of Tunes – Afro Blue and the Rhythmic Drift
From Mongo Santamaría to Derek Trucks, a genre-traveling classic that grooves in two directions at once.
The year is 1959.
The first jazz standard with a 3:2 hemiola.
A number that has a lot going on between the melody and the rhythm, but it’s just pure joy for the listener.
Listen to “Afro Blue” by Mongo Santamaría, from the album Mongo, released in 1959.
What’s A Hemiola?
It’s when two rhythms run side by side — one counting in threes, the other in twos. Think of two people walking at different strides but somehow arriving at the same place.
In Afro Blue, the bass pulses in three (one-two-three), while the melody grooves in two (one-two).
The result? A pure musical, auditory hypnosis.
Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaría penned and composed Afro Blue, and performed it during a LIVE session with the Cal Tjader Sextet in 1959. There have been many renditions over the past six decades, and I never get tired of listening to all of them, on loop, for hours together.
Interpretations And Impressions
I heard Afro Blue a few years ago, and the first version I was exposed to was the one by The Derek Trucks Band — slide guitars, soul, and a ride through the jazz forest of Americana. It’s one of those songs that’s a delight for musicians who wander into extended solos and treat them as spiritual experiences.
Similar to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free Bird’, in my books.
In 1963, John Coltrane gave it a twist—flipping the phrasing by letting the melody drift in three, while the rhythm moved in two.
There are also renditions of the song with vocals and lyrics. I love the versions by Dee Dee Bridgewater and Melanie De Biasio—both transcend you into completely different settings and moods.
· The former opens with ambient sounds and bells, building a textured world before the voice steps in.
· The latter is anchored by prominent basslines and vocal improvisation that borders on meditative.
I’ll be back soon with another number that pins my ear, finds my trove, and stays with me. Till then, you can continue to check out my Trove Of Tunes curated in a Spotify playlist by clicking here.
Cheers,
Shri