Died On This Date (February 4, 2008) Tata Guines / Afro-Cuban Conga Master
themusicsover Tata Guines
June 30, 1930 – February 4, 2008
Known as “rey de los tambores,” or King of the Drums, Tata Guines was an Afro-Cuban conga drum master. Born in Cuba, he came to the United States in the 1950s and worked with such greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra and Josephine Baker. He moved back to Cuba after the revolution mostly due to his dislike of the segregation he encountered in the US. Guines died of a kidney infection in Havana.