Mandrill

Mandrill ranks among funk’s most adventurous ensembles, delivering extended, groove-driven performances steeped in Latin rhythms, Caribbean accents, jazz explorations, gospel fervor, blues textures, psychedelic hues, African traditions, and unfiltered rock energy. Their freewheeling early style left a clear mark on the Parliament-Funkadelic collective—an early version of that group even opened for Mandrill—and their rhythms have been widely mined by rap and R&B producers across subsequent decades. During the 1970s, their peak era for both studio work and live dates, the band placed nine expansive albums on Billboard’s main LP chart, among them Mandrill from 1970, Composite Truth from 1972, and Just Outside of Town from 1973. These releases yielded several modest charting singles, yet the group’s broad, eclectic sensibility often registered most powerfully outside the constraints of radio edits. Formed in the late 1960s and anchored ever since by the multi-instrumentalist Wilson brothers, Mandrill passed the fifty-year milestone with the 2020 album Back in Town.

The ensemble came together in Brooklyn in 1968. Panama-born siblings Ric Wilson on saxophone, percussion, and vocals, Lou Wilson on trumpet, percussion, and vocals, and Carlos Wilson on trombone, percussion, and vocals grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant under the guidance of parents who encouraged music. By the time the band launched, Harvard alumnus Ric had already begun practicing as a cardiologist, while Vietnam veteran Carlos had studied at the Mannes School of Music. The brothers had long rehearsed together in the beauty salon run by their mother. They chose the name Mandrill for the West African primate known for its vividly colored face and tight-knit social structure, then expanded the lineup with Claude “Coffee” Cave II on keyboards, percussion, and vocals, Omar Mesa on guitar and vocals, Bundie Cenac on bass, and Charles Padro on drums, percussion, and vocals. After signing with Polydor, they issued their self-titled debut in 1971, reflecting the rising jazz-rock and Latin-rock currents alongside soul and funk. The title track—an instrumental showcase in which the members simply intoned the band name—reached the Billboard Hot 100 and lifted the album to number 48 on the pop chart.

Building on that momentum, the group, now featuring Fudgie Kae in place of Cenac, returned quickly in 1972 with Mandrill Is. While the Wilsons had written most of the debut, the follow-up gave greater voice to the other members, as heard on the collectively composed “Git It All,” their first single to register on the soul chart. After Charles Padro departed, Neftali Santiago stepped in for Composite Truth, the band’s strongest commercial success. Powered by the forceful “Fencewalk,” which peaked at number 19 on the soul chart and number 52 on the pop side, and the smoother “Hang Loose,” which reached number 25 soul and number 83 pop, the album climbed to number 28, Mandrill’s career high. Later that year they delivered Just Outside of Town, highlighted by the contrasting singles “Mango Meat” and “Love Song” as well as the well-known deep cut “Two Sisters of Mercy.” Still remarkably active, the band closed its Polydor years with the double album Mandrilland. New guitarist Doug Rodrigues, who had previously worked with Santana and Betty Davis and replaced Omar Mesa, appeared on the singles “Positive Thing” and “The Road to Love.”

Mandrill then moved to United Artists, releasing Solid in 1975 and Beast from the East in 1976. During this transitional stretch the Wilsons were joined at times by Brian Allsop on bass, Andre Locke and Eddie Summers on drums, and Tommy Trujillo on guitar, while brother Wilfredo Wilson added bass, percussion, and vocals on the 1976 release. Stability returned after the group signed with Arista. They first contributed to the soundtrack of the Muhammad Ali film The Greatest, then issued We Are One in 1977, which charted with the up-tempo tracks “Funky Monkey” and “Can You Get It.” New Worlds in 1978 and Getting in the Mood in 1980 concluded the Arista period. The former yielded the band’s final Top 40 soul-chart entry, “Too Late,” which preceded their appearance on A&M’s soundtrack for The Warriors with “Echoes in My Mind.” In 1982, with support from Montage Records, they released Energize, their eleventh studio album. Mandrill continued to perform sporadically over the following four decades. In 2004 the Wilson brothers launched their own label to issue Live at Montreux 2002, capturing a lineup that included Neftali Santiago. While working on another studio project, Lou Wilson passed away in 2013. The remaining Wilsons and their collaborators finished the recordings with assistance from guests Ron Carter, Roy Ayers, Gerald Albright, and Kamasi Washington, releasing the results in 2020 as Back in Town.