Jack Costanzo, a Chicagoan of Italian descent who taught himself to play the bongos and, somewhat improbably, became a ubiquitous figure in Afro-Cuban jazz, accompanying singers like Nat King Cole and mingling with Marlon Brando and other Hollywood stars, died on Aug. 18 in Lakeside, Calif., near San Diego. He was 98. The cause was a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, his wife, Maureen Wilson, said.

Mr. Costanzo, after stints with Stan Kenton, Cole and other prominent artists, became a bandleader himself, recording albums across half a century, some of them employing his nickname, Mr. Bongo, in the title. He was also a session player on numerous other albums and accompanied performers in television appearances, including Ann Miller during a spunky rendition of “I’m Gonna Live ’Til I Die” on a 1957 episode of “The Dinah Shore Chevy Show.”