In 1994, I met Mongo Santamaria via an introduction made by his son Monguito. We all met at the apartment of Mongo’s sister Rosa on the upper west side of Manhattan. When I arrived, Mongo had a camera ready at hand to take his picture with me because of the friendship I had with his son. It was a lesson in humility and the start of a wonderful relationship peppered with numerous stories and historical accounts of his career, his music, and life experiences. At one point, I told Mongo that I like to write and that I would like to write his biography. Mongo shared with me that there was a writer, interested in writing his biography but he passed away. He then agreed to allow me to be his biographer. When I asked him who was the writer he was referring to, Mongo says to me, “Alex Haley.” “Alex Haley?!?! Wait! What?!?!,”I replied. “As in Alex Haley, the author of “Roots” and the “Autobiography of Malcolm X?” That was the second lesson in humbleness that Mongo provided me with. Life experiences occurred for both of us and Mongo Santamaria flew on to another realm in 2003. During the covid pandemic, Monguito and I talked about reviving the Mongo Santamaria biography project, and so here we are. - Dr. Daniel Ibarrondo