From the Washington Post:

Francisco Aguabella, 84, an Afro-Cuban percussionist considered a master sacred drummer who also had a wide-ranging career in jazz and salsa, died May 7 of cancer at his Los Angeles home. 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," wrote Raul Fernandez, a professor at the University of California at Irvine, in his 2006 book "From Afro-Cuban Rhythms to Latin Jazz….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 in an interview. "He was the carrier of the tradition….He was the only person in the U.S. who learned from Cuban masters."

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