Mr Bongo Records

Mr Bongo is a Brighton based independent record label, independent film and publishing company specialising in world music and art house/world cinema.

History

Founded in 1989, in Berwick Street, London, the label later moved to Lexington Street and then finally to Poland Street, where they additionally operated a hip-hop record shop, specialising in underground and independent hip-hop. The Mr Bongo record label still exists over 25 years after the first shop opened, and a film label, Mr Bongo Films, was set up in 2004 to release lost classics from around the world.

"Disorient Records' was a sub-label that specialised in dance music from Japan. "Mr Bongo Bass" is a recent sub label of Mr Bongo specialising in global bass music.

The label reissues many albums, including the Incredible Bongo Band's Bongo Rock.

Mr Bongo Films

Mr Bongo Films is the world cinema offshoot imprint of the label that was established in 1989.

Taking in directors such as Glauber Rocha, John Huston, Michelangelo Antonioni, Mikhail Kalatozov, Satyajit Ray, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Wojciech Has, Orson Welles, and films such as The Saragossa Manuscript; some other releases by Mr Bongo included Mikhail Kalatozov's Soy Cuba, Glauber Rocha's Black God, White Devil and from the Antonioni, L'Avventura.

Bongo

The term bongo may refer to:

Entertainment

Music

Jack Costanzo

Jack Costanzo (born September 24, 1919, Chicago, Illinois) is an American percussionist.

Biography

A composer, conductor and drummer, Costanzo is best known as a bongo player, and is nicknamed "Mr. Bongo". He visited Havana three times in the 1940s and learned to play Afro-Cuban rhythms on the bongos and congas.

Costanzo started as a dancer, touring as a team with his wife before World War II. After his discharge from the Navy, he worked as a dance instructor at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where Latin band leader Bobby Ramos heard Costanzo playing bongos in a jam session and offered him a job. Throughout the 1940s, Costanzo worked with several Latin bands, including a revived version of the Lecuona Cuban Boys, Desi Arnaz, and Rene Touzet.

Costanzo toured with Stan Kenton from 1947–48 and occasionally in the 1950s, and played with Nat King Cole from 1949 to 1953. He also played with the Billy May Orchestra, Peggy Lee, Danny Kaye, Perez Prado, Charlie Barnet, Pete Rugolo, Betty Grable, Harry James, Judy Garland, Jane Powell, Ray Anthony, Martin & Lewis, Frances Faye, Dinah Shore, Xavier Cugat, Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, and Eddie Fisher.

King Of...

King Of... was a television comedy talk show made by Big Talk Productions for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 17 June 2011 and was hosted by Claudia Winkleman. The show featured two celebrity guests per episode and a studio audience. The guests discussed what is the 'king of' various categories.

On 24 June 2011, Channel 4 announced that King Of... was to be cut short due to Winkleman's pregnancy. The final 2 episodes, with Ruby Wax & Johnny Vegas and Billie Piper, were not recorded.

Episodes

Series 1

References

External links

Bongo Rock

This article is about the rock and roll instrumental song. For the Incredible Bongo Band album, see Bongo Rock.

"Bongo Rock" is a rock and roll instrumental written and recorded by Preston Epps. Released as a single in 1959, it charted #14 Pop in the United States. In 1973 the Incredible Bongo Band recorded a cover version of "Bongo Rock" under the title "Bongo Rock '73" which became a minor hit. The Incredible Bongo Band version of the tune gained significant popularity in early hip hop circles as a breakbeat. Pioneering DJ Kool Herc used it frequently in his sets. It was issued in the Ultimate Breaks and Beats compilation series and has been extensively sampled by pop and hip hop producers.

References