Anga Díaz

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Miguel 'Angá' Díaz (15 June 1961 - 9 August 2006), was a Grammy Award winning Cuban percussionist. With his explosive soloing and inventive five conga patterns, Angá was widely acclaimed as one of the world's greatest congueros. He was committed to the development of the conga drum, breaking down traditional percussion barriers to perform traditional latin rhythms, jazz, jungle, funk and hip-hop whilst retaining his distinctly Cuban roots.

Miguel Aurelio Diiaz Zayas was born in San Juan y Martinez in the Pinar del Río Province in Cuba, an area known for its rumba traditions. Angá is a nickname he shared with his father. He began playing prodigiously early, performing and recording professionally whilst still at college. He made his name as a founding member of the pioneering Latin jazz Grammy award winning group Irakere and it was with them he perfected his five drum technique.

Emerging in the mid-nineties as an independent musician, Angá was free to diversify and pursue a variety of different projects. He played with various Cuban artists including Afro-Cuban All Stars, The Buena Vista Social Club, Omar Sosa, Omara Portuondo and Orisha. He likewise recorded and toured often with international musicians such as Steve Coleman, Baba Sissoko, Ry Cooder, Pascal Coulon, Malik Mezzadri, Buddy Montgomery and John Patitucci.

In 1994 he recorded Pasaporte with Tata Guines, winning in 1995 the EGREM Album of the Year award (the Cuban Grammy). Two years later Angá joins the acclaimed American trumpeter Roy Hargrove with whom he releases the Grammy winning Cristol Habana. In 2000 he recorded with Ruben Gonzalez the Grammy-nominated Chanchullo and in that same year he collaborated with Pascal Coulon on the CD Arpa Fusion.

Angá's musical journey was a personal quest to explore and create new sounds and rhythmic fusions. More than just a performer, Angá further demonstrated his commitment to the development of his instrument by teaching master classes at various schools and universities across North America and Europe. For this purpose he released Anga Mania!, a tuition video which explained many of his techniques and his philosophy behind playing; it won in 2000 the Percussion Video of Drum Magazine.

In 2005 Angá recorded Echu Mingua and in 2006 he embarked on his world tour by the same name. Miguel Angá Diaz died unexpectedly at his home in Barcelona on 9th August 2006; he was just 45 years old.

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