For any of you familiar with the great Cuban jazz group Irakere, this will be some sad news. He also performed with the Afro-Cuban All-Stars, among others.
BARCELONA, Spain, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Miguel "Anga" Diaz,
one of the masters of the conga drum and a composer,
arranger and teacher, has died suddenly at his home in
Spain at 45.
The Cuban-born and trained Diaz recently moved to San
Sadurni d'Anoia, a small town near Barcelona, in
search of quiet, the Los Angeles Times reported. One
of his students found his body Wednesday after he
suffered a heart attack.
Diaz was born in Cuba, where his parents still live,
and trained at the National School of Art in Havana.
In the 1990s, as percussionist with Cuba's leading
progressive Afro-Cuban band Irakere, Diaz advanced the
five-drum technique first developed by his predecessor
as the band's percussionist, the late Jorge "El Nino"
Alfonso.
"He could do things (on congas) that could only be
dreamed of before he came on the scene," Paul de
Castro, an expert in Afro-Latin music on the faculty
at Cal State L.A. "Anga was one of the innovators in
conga technique."
A funeral service was held Friday in Spain, the Times
said. Diaz's ashes will be returned to Cuba.
