Miguel "Angá" Díaz
| Miguel "Angá" Díaz | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Miguel Aurelio Díaz Zayas |
| Born | June 15, 1961 San Juan y Martínez, Pinar del Río Cuba |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Barcelona, Spain |
| Genres | Afro-Cuban jazz, songo, son cubano, Cuban rumba, conga, Santería music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Conga, cajón, güiro, timbales |
| Labels | World Circuit |
| Associated acts | Irakere, Afro-Cuban All Stars, Buena Vista Social Club, Omar Sosa, Tata Güines |
Miguel "Angá" Díaz (June 15, 1961 - August 9, 2006) was a Cuban percussionist of Yoruba descent.[1][2][3] He was a well-known conguero who also played the cajón, güiro and timbales.
Life and career
Miguel Aurelio Díaz Zayas was born in San Juan y Martínez in the Pinar del Río Province in Cuba. Angá is a nickname he shared with his father. He began playing early, performing and recording professionally whilst still at college. In 1987 he made his name as a member of the pioneering Latin jazz Grammy award winning group Irakere and it was with them he perfected his five drum technique.
He played with various Cuban artists including Afro-Cuban All Stars, Buena Vista Social Club, Omar Sosa, Omara Portuondo and Orisha. He recorded and toured with international musicians such as Steve Coleman, Baba Sissoko, Ry Cooder, Pascal Coulon, Malik Mezzadri, Buddy Montgomery and John Patitucci.[4]
In 1994 he recorded Pasaporte with Tata Güines, winning in 1995 the EGREM Album of the Year award. Two years later Angá joined the American trumpeter Roy Hargrove with whom he released the Grammy-winning Cristol Habana. In 2000 he recorded with Rubén González the Grammy-nominated Chanchullo and in that same year he collaborated with Pascal Coulon on the CD Arpa Fusion.
Angá taught 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 a world tour by the same name. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack at his home in Barcelona on 9 August 2006 at the age of 45.
Twin daughters
In 2013, Diaz's twin daughters, Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz, 19 years old, formed the musical duo, Ibeyi. They signed to the record label XL Recordings and recorded their debut album.[5]
The twins were born in Paris but lived in Havana for the first two years of their lives. They often visited Cuba on holidays, but were primarily raised in Paris, where they currently live. On his death in 2006, Naomi, then aged 11, learned to play the signature instrument of his father, the cajón. His daughters studied Yoruba folk songs. His wife was French-Venezuelan singer, Maya Dagnino, who serves as her children manager and encouraged Lisa-Kainde's songwriting.
References
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