Francisco Aguabella

Francisco Aguabella, a drummer and percussionist born in Matanzas, Cuba, arrived in New York City during 1957 after leaving a homeland where African musical traditions ran deep. He joined an established succession of Cuban rhythm masters who had already gained prominence in the United States, among them Chano Pozo, Patato Valdez, Candido, and Mongo Santamaria. Aguabella’s playing blended ancestral African and Latin patterns with the textures of smooth jazz and soul, producing a charged and distinctive result.

Command of the bata, the Yoruba talking drums, quickly placed him in demand. Early engagements with Dizzy Gillespie led to further sessions alongside Peggy Lee, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Weather Report, Cal Tjader, Frank Sinatra, Louie Bellson, Walfredo de los Reyes, Nancy Wilson, Lalo Schifrin, Machito, and Carlos Santana. Aguabella helped form the group Malo, which also featured Jorge Santana; the band issued three albums and toured extensively across the country before dissolving.

He contributed drums and percussion to numerous film soundtracks and television scores. Documentary maker Les Blank examined Aguabella’s life and work in Sworn to the Drum. The National Endowment for the Arts presented him with its National Heritage Award, and he later joined the faculty of U.C.L.A.’s Department of Ethnomusicology as a visiting professor, offering both introductory and advanced classes in Afro-Cuban music. On the West Coast he continued to lead Francisco Aguabella’s Latin Jazz Ensemble. Aguabella died in Los Angeles on May 7, 2010, at the age of 84 while receiving treatment for cancer.