Afro-Cuban percussion legend

Percussion Profiles: Chano Pozo

Chano Pozo (1915–1948) lived only 33 years, but his impact on Latin music and jazz was seismic — a Cuban percussionist, composer, singer, and dancer whose collaboration with Dizzy Gillespie gave birth to an entirely new genre and changed the course of the conga drum forever.

Percussion Profiles: Armando Peraza

Armando Peraza (1924–2014) was one of the most traveled and widely heard percussionists in the history of Latin music — a Cuban master of conga and bongo whose career spanned nearly seven decades and ranged from Havana's conjunto scene to the stadiums of Santana.

Percussion Profiles: Carlos “Patato” Valdés

Carlos “Patato” Valdés (1926–2007) was a Cuban percussionist and bandleader whose six-decade career bridged Havana’s dance halls and New York’s jazz stages. A defining figure in Afro-Cuban jazz, his performances and recordings continue to influence percussionists around the world.

Percussion Profiles: Tata Güines

Cuban master conguero Tata Güines is hailed as the godfather of modern conga playing. His crisp and unique sound, rhythmic vocabulary and technical innovations, as well as his prolific body of recorded work, have had an immeasurable impact, however direct or indirect, on every conga player over the past 70 years.