1948–2025 · Havana, Cuba
Los Van Van’s timbalero and drummer, a developer of songo and a teacher of generations of percussionists.
- Played with
- Los Van Van, Juan Formell, Felipe Dulzaides, Patato Valdés, Orestes Vilató, Roy Hargrove
Back in 1956, an eight-year-old from Casablanca, across the bay from Havana, was filling in for his father in the orchestra of the Tropicana cabaret. That boy, José Luis “Changuito” Quintana (1948–2025), grew up to be one of the most influential and groundbreaking percussionists in the history of Cuba.
A Drummer’s Son in Casablanca
José Luis Quintana Fuentes was born on January 18, 1948, in Casablanca, across the bay from Havana. Music was all around him at home. By five he was already playing percussion, and as a boy he also worked alongside his father in Havana Jazz, directed by Tomás González.
In a 2007 interview, he named his father, Pedro Luis Quintana Perojo, his grandfather Alfonso Pérez Morúa, Patato Valdés and Armando Peraza among his teachers.
Changuito
In 1964 he joined Los Armónicos de Felipe Dulzaides, playing congas at the Hotel Riviera. Dulzaides called him Chango, the name that became Changuito. The group’s drummer, Tony Valdez, encouraged him toward jazz and the drum set.
He picked up a second nickname along the way. “I’m pretty much a loner,” he said, “that’s why Pedrito Calvo called me ‘El misterioso.’”
Los Van Van and the Songo
Changuito at the drum kit. Photo: Diario de Cuba.
In 1970 he joined Los Van Van, replacing original drummer Blas Egües. He stayed for more than twenty years.
With Van Van he helped create the songo, the style that made Los Van Van famous. He was precise about who did what. He credited Formell and original drummer Blas Egües with the beginnings of songo, his own contribution with developing the drum-kit part, and Raúl “El Yulo” Cárdenas with creating the conga part alongside Formell. “Songo is a creation of maestro Formell,” he said in 2014. “I am the creator of songo as far as the drum kit goes.” His work with Los Van Van kept developing as the band’s sound changed.
Percussionist Michael Pluznick filmed him at the Varadero festival in 1985 without realizing who he was watching. “While I stood behind him he took an almost 20 minute long solo,” he wrote.
Juan Formell’s son Samuel also remembered standing behind him. “I remember I’d often stand right behind Changuito,” Samuel said. “That incredible polyrhythm really caught my attention.”
He left on January 21, 1992, and went his own way.
The Teacher
In 1992 he began recording as a solo artist. He joined Patato Valdés and Orestes Vilató on Ritmo y Candela: Rhythm at the Crossroads, released by Redwood in 1995 and nominated for Best Latin Jazz Performance in 1996. He also played timbales on Roy Hargrove’s Crisol album Habana, released by Verve in 1997, which won that award in 1998.
Teaching was another part of his work. With Chuck Silverman he wrote Changuito: A Master’s Approach to Timbales, covering styles from danzón and mozambique to songo, and he made the videos La historia del songo with Rebeca Mauleón and Evolution of the Tumbadoras with Giovanni Hidalgo. Kevin Moore of timba.com called the videos “mandatory study material for anyone interested in Cuban music.” He taught at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, the University of Puerto Rico and Berklee, and gave clinics from Toronto to the Dominican Republic. Among the players who studied with him were Giovanni Hidalgo and Karl Perazzo.
He was strict about the basics. “If a timbalero doesn’t play danzón, he isn’t a percussionist,” he said, and he kept working himself. “I studied eight hours a day for three years. I’m 66 and I’m still studying.”
Timeline
1948Born January 18 in Casablanca, across the bay from Havana
1956Fills in for his father in the Tropicana orchestra
1964Joins Los Armónicos de Felipe Dulzaides; gets the name Changuito
1970Joins Los Van Van, replacing Blas Egües
1985Plays the Varadero festival with Van Van
1992Leaves Los Van Van on January 21; begins recording as a solo artist
1996Ritmo y Candela with Patato and Orestes Vilató nominated for a Grammy
1998Habana (Roy Hargrove’s Crisol), with Changuito on timbales, wins the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Performance
2025Dies June 6 in Havana
Selected Recordings
Sandunguera (Los Van Van; Messidor CD edition, 1989), Changuito on bongos, timbales and tumba
Ritmo y Candela: Rhythm at the Crossroads (Patato, Changuito and Orestes, Redwood, 1995), Grammy nomination
Habana (Roy Hargrove’s Crisol, Verve, 1997), Changuito on timbales
Syncopation (Melt 2000, 2001)
Telegrafía sin Hilo (Cacao Música, 2006; North American release, 2007)
Teaching: Changuito: A Master’s Approach to Timbales (with Chuck Silverman); videos La historia del songo (with Rebeca Mauleón) and Evolution of the Tumbadoras (with Giovanni Hidalgo)
Awards & Recognition
Cuba awarded him the Alejo Carpentier Medal, and he was a member of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). In 2014 Havana’s Fiesta del Tambor “Guillermo Barreto in Memoriam” paid tribute to his six decades in music, and in 2003 students from several music schools honored him alongside Tata Güines and other musicians at Havana’s Félix Varela school. In timba.com’s readers’ polls he was voted Best Timba Timbalero of All Time and Best Instrumental Soloist. He played on Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated records, including Roy Hargrove’s Habana.
Legacy
“Changuito has been the most creative, most complete percussionist in Cuban music,” said Samuel Formell, who took over his chair in Los Van Van. Samuel learned largely by watching him, with one direct lesson on timbal and danzón. When he took over the chair, he recalled, his father gave him one piece of advice: “I don’t want you to be Changuito. I want you to be Samuel Formell.”
Changuito never stopped thinking of the band as his. “That’s my orchestra, and it will be my orchestra as long as I live,” he said in 2014, just after Juan Formell’s death. “They’re like my children, because I saw them when they were little.”
He died in Havana on June 6, 2025. The Instituto Cubano de la Música called his death “an irreparable loss for national culture.” Los Van Van mourned a “genius of Cuban percussion” whose playing had helped define the band for more than twenty years.
Changuito spent his life passing the timbal on, from Los Van Van to classrooms around the world. If his story has you inspired to pick up the sticks yourself, CongaChops.com is a great place to start.
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Photo credits: portrait via timba.com; drum kit photo via Diario de Cuba.