Miguel Aurelio Díaz Zayas

Excellent percussionist. With his explosive solos and the creation of five conga touches, Angá was widely acclaimed as one of the great conga players in the world. He was committed to the development of the conga, breaking down the traditional barriers of percussion, in order to introduce it into classic Latin rhythms, jazz, reggae, funk and hip-hop, while preserving its distinctly Cuban roots.

He was born in San Juan y Martínez in the province of Pinar del Río (Cuba). "Angá" was the nickname he shared with his father. He began playing prodigiously early, performing and recording professionally while still studying. He made a name for himself in the music world as a member of the group Irakere, which was the first to win the Grammy Award in the Latin jazz category, and it was with them that he perfected his five tumbadora touches.

He emerged in the mid-nineties as an independent musician. Angá was then free to diversify and carry out countless projects. He played with various Cuban artists, including Afro-Cuban All Stars, Buena Vista Social Club, Omar Sosa, Omara Portuondo and Orishas. At that time he recorded and toured frequently with international musicians such as Steve Coleman, Baba Sissoko, Ry Cooder, Pascal Coulon, Mezzadri Malik, Montgomery Buddy and John Patitucci.

In 1994 he recorded the album Pasaporte by Tata Güines, winner in 1995 of Album of the Year by EGREM (the Cuban Grammys). Two years later, acclaimed American trumpeter Roy Hargrove joined Angá, with whom he won a Grammy for Cristol Habana. In 2000 he recorded with pianist Rubén González, for which he was nominated for a Grammy for Chanchullo; that same year he collaborated with Pascal Coulon on the CD Arpa Fusión.

Angá's musical journey was a personal quest to investigate and create new sounds and rhythmic fusions. More than just an artist, Angá demonstrated his commitment to the development of his instrument through master classes teaching at various schools and universities in North America and throughout Europe. For this reason he launched Anga Mania, an educational video that explains many of his techniques and his touch philosophy, which won the "Percussion Video" award in 2000 from the prestigious magazine Drum Magazine.

In 2005, Angá recorded Echu Mingua and in 2006 embarked on a world tour of the same name. He shared the stage and jam sessions with monsters of Cuban and international music. It would suffice to mention Chucho Valdés, Cachaíto López, José María Vitier, Ibrahim Ferrer, el Guajiro Mirabal, Billy Cobham, Tito Puente, Carlos Santana and Buena Vista Social Club.

His interest in experimentation led him to fuse jazz, rock, hip-hop, traditional Cuban music, flamenco and Brazilian rhythms such as frevo and serton.

«Angá» left without saying goodbye, with drums in hand and several projects stranded on the shores of the Mediterranean. He was just about to close agreements with Chano Domínguez to join his New Flamenco Sound.

He was immersed in the launch of the band Angá fusión Brasil MPB Jazz Cubano, in which his brother Juan Miguel «el Indio», Rio-born guitarist Danilho Pinheiro and Argentine percussionist Martín «Maluco» Penalta collaborated. They had all met in Spain. The main interest of the project was to rescue themes from Brazilian popular music and give them a new melodic force.

It is August 9, 2006 in Barcelona. That day «Angá», 45 years old and with a brilliant trajectory, was to meet with the Cuban group Síntesis to perform in Spain. He could not. His heart gave out.