Mongo Santamaria – “Mambo Mongo (Joaquin Joe Claussell Remix)” (PopMatters Premiere)

Joaquin “Joe” Claussell is one of New York’s hottest producers and his Nuyorican pedigree combined with his mastery of the house genre made him the ideal choice for a remix project featuring old classic Fania Records tracks. On Hammock House ‘Africa Caribe’, releasing May 17th, Claussell reworks ’60s and ’70s tunes from the like of Lou Perez, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, and Mongo Santamaria, as you hear on the example below. Working with the original tapes, Claussell fully captures the energy of the originals, while adding a modern club vibe into the stew. His enthusiasm for the music is evident in the work and like any true crate digger, he throughly geeked out on working with the old recordings. “When the carrier came to my place with all these boxes, I had an Indiana Jones moment, like when he opens the treasure chest and the glow of gold light shines up on his face. It was miraculous that they were still around, and the history of this stuff is just amazing,” says Claussell.