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Jack Costanzo, known as “Mr. Bongo,” was an American percussionist and bandleader born on September 24, 1919, in Chicago, Illinois. He passed away on August 19, 2018, in California, USA. Costanzo gained fame for popularizing the bongo drum, contributing to a “bongo craze” as Latin rhythms began to influence jazz and pop music following World War II. Initially a dancer, he traveled to Cuba multiple times to learn conga playing and is credited as the first bongo player to join a jazz band. Throughout his career, he played with various artists from 1947 to 1953 and formed his own “Exotica” style band in the 1950s. In the early 1960s, he was part of a group of studio musicians. Costanzo continued to perform for over fifty years, retiring in 1998 but making a comeback in 2001. He also recorded under the pseudonym Manuel Santo for certain French releases.

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