How to explain Mongo"s enduring popularity? It is surely his ability to perfectly combine Latin and African rhythms with an infusion of American jazz and rhythm and blues. There is a high excitement quotient to match the sensitive treatment of originals and standards all with precisely the right tempo and that irresistible bedrock of melodic, rhythmic and expressive Afro-Cuban percussion. Mongo"s enduring adaptability to contemporary music had never been demonstrated better than in this pulsating collection of Mongo classics recorded live at New York"s Birdland in 1992. It"s all here - the incredible propulsion of the rhythm department built around the "King of the Congas".