Aguabella, a sacred drummer of the Santeria religion, left Cuba in the
1950s. He performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Peggy Lee, Frank
Sinatra, Eddie Palmieri, Carlos Santana and the Doors.
May 9, 2010
Francisco Aguabella, an Afro-Cuban percussionist considered a master
sacred drummer who also had a wide-ranging career in jazz and salsa, has
died. He was 84.
Aguabella died Friday of cancer at his Los Angeles home, said his
daughter Menina Givens.
His career "bears testimony to the existence and continuity of a sacred
tradition in dancing and music that has been present throughout the
development of popular music in the Afro-Cuban style," UC Irvine
professor Raul Fernandez said in his 2006 book "From Afro-Cuban Rhythms
to Latin Jazz."
Aguabella was a sacred drummer of the Santeria religion who left Cuba in
the 1950s to work with dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham on the
movie "Mambo." He went on to perform with Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente,
Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Eddie Palmieri, Carlos Santana, the Doors and
many others.
"He was not a man of many words," said Danilo Lozano, a professor of
ethnomusicology at Whittier College and a flutist who played with
Aguabella in the group Jazz on the Latin Side All Stars. "He was always
teaching us through the drum, through the music."
"He knew exactly what the music needed to make it special, and he was
continually teaching us all about the wealth of musical expression,"
said Lozano, who called Aguabella "the master of masters."
Aguabella was born Oct. 10, 1925, in Matanzas, Cuba. At 12 he started
playing the bata, a sacred drum shaped like an hourglass. He moved to
Havana in 1947 and eventually started performing at one of the city's
leading nightclubs, playing every form of Afro-Cuban drum, Fernandez
wrote. That's where Dunham saw him. He went with her dance troupe to
Italy for the filming and toured extensively with the group, eventually
making his way to the United States.
"Almost all the people who learned to play the sacred drums had him as
their teacher. He provided great continuity," Fernandez, a professor in
UC Irvine's Chicano/Latino studies department, said Saturday. "He was
the carrier of the tradition.... He was the only person in the U.S. who
learned from Cuban masters."
In 1992, Aguabella received a national heritage fellowship from the
National Endowment for the Arts. He also taught at UCLA.
"No one played like him; no one had the stamina," said bassist Eddie
Resto. "He carried on the tradition of Cuba by way of Africa."
Trombonist Jules Rowell, who played with and wrote music for Aguabella,
last performed with him last summer. "It suddenly occurred to me that
his playing had a life of its own," Rowell said Saturday. "Francisco was
truly gifted."
Aguabella was featured in the documentary "Sworn to the Drum," released
in 1995. "He was incredible, a wonderful musician and a great spirit,"
filmmaker Les Blank said. "I think he felt honored that we paid him the
attention and respect that he deserved."
In addition to Givens, Aguabella is survived by another daughter,
Martica Jenkins; sons Mario and Marco Aguabella; and seven
grandchildren. Services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Holy Cross
Cemetery and Mortuary in Culver City.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-francisco-aguabella-20100509,0,6419187.story
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