Anga Díaz Musical artist
Miguel 'Angá' Díaz (15 June 1961 - 9 August 2006), was a Cuban percussionist. He was a well-known conguero.Miguel Aurelio Diaz Zayas was born in San Juan y Martinez 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. 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.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.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.