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Bilongo (La Negra Tomasa)
A love song that sounds like a hex — because it is one. Guillermo Rodríguez Fiffe's guaracha-son (a 'bilongo' is a Kongo-derived spell) tells of a man...
Open in the interactive experienceA love song that sounds like a hex — because it is one. Guillermo Rodríguez Fiffe's guaracha-son (a 'bilongo' is a Kongo-derived spell) tells of a man bewitched by La Negra Tomasa, helpless with 'kikiribú, mandinga.' First cut by Xavier Cugat in 1940, it became a New York salsa cornerstone when Eddie Palmieri and Ismael Quintana laid down the definitive version in 1970 — and it's been claimed by everyone since: Conjunto Casino, Pacheco, Compay Segundo, Cachao, Fruko's Colombians, even a Martinican Latin-jazz reading. Sixteen versions here, one irresistible spell.
- Composer
- Guillermo Rodríguez Fiffe
- Year
- 1937
- Lineage
- son montuno