Francisco Aguabella
Encyclopedia
Francisco Aguabella was an Afro-Cuban jazz
percussionist whose career began in the 1950s.
, Cuba
. In the 1950s, he left Cuba to perform with Katherine Dunham
in the Shelley Winters
film Mambo
filmed in Italy. After touring with Katherine Dunham he came to the United States and performed and toured with Peggy Lee
for the next seven years. Francisco Aguabella is one of a handful of Cuban percussionists who came to the United States in the 1940s and 50s. Other notable Cuban percussionists who came to the U.S. during that time include Chano Pozo
, Mongo Santamaria
, Armando Peraza
, Julito Collazo
, Carlos Vidal Bolado
and Modetso Duran. During his long career Aguabella performed in Europe, Australia, South America, and all over the United States (including the White House). Francisco enjoyed an extensive music performing and recording career and delighted many audiences with his masterful and powerful rhythms.
Francisco performed with many great Jazz artists such as Dizzy Gillespie
, Tito Puente
, Mongo Santamaria
, Frank Sinatra
, Eddie Palmieri
, Cachao, Lalo Schifrin
, Cal Tjader
, Nancy Wilson, Poncho Sanchez
, Bebo Valdes
and numerous others. Francisco was honored to receive numerous awards including the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Durfee Foundation's Master Musicians' Fellowship, and recognition by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. He is featured in the documentary, "Sworn to the Drum" by filmmaker Les Blank, and is featured in a documentary, "Aguabella," currently in production, directed by actor/filmmaker Orestes Matacena (The Mask, Bitter Sugar). He has also appeared with his ensemble on television programs including the Orlando Jones Show on FX.
During the 1970s he was a member of the Jorge Santana
Latin rock band Malo
. Francisco was a widely recognized master conguero and bata artist, a caring and knowledgeable instructor. In 1992 he won a National Heritage Fellowship
from the National Endowment for the Arts
. Aguabella was a faculty member at the annual Explorations in afro-cuban dance and drum
workshop hosted by the Humboldt State University
Office of Extended Education in Arcata, California
. He lived in Los Angeles, California
where he taught Afro-Cuban drumming to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of California, Los Angeles
.
Aguabella died in Los Angeles on May 7, 2010 of a cancer-related illness.
With Paul Simon
Afro-Cuban jazz
Afro-Cuban jazz is an early form of Latin jazz that mixes Afro-Cuban rhythms with harmonies and musical timbre typical of Bebop. It was developed in the early 1940s by both Cuban musicians and Jazz musicians, with Dizzy Gillespie, Mario Bauza, Machito and Stan Kenton among some of the most notable...
percussionist whose career began in the 1950s.
Biography
Aguabella was born in MatanzasMatanzas
Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. It is famed for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore.It is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas , east of the capital Havana and west of the resort town of Varadero.Matanzas is called the...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. In the 1950s, he left Cuba to perform with Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator, and activist...
in the Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
film Mambo
Mambo (1954 film)
Mambo is a 1954 Italian/American film directed by Robert Rossen.- Plot summary :The film stars Silvana Mangano as Giovanna Masetti, a poor Venetian who is admired by the crafty croupier Mario Rossi and the rich count Enrico Marisoni . Giovanna lives out a dream to become a dancer and moves to Rome...
filmed in Italy. After touring with Katherine Dunham he came to the United States and performed and toured with Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee
Peggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
for the next seven years. Francisco Aguabella is one of a handful of Cuban percussionists who came to the United States in the 1940s and 50s. Other notable Cuban percussionists who came to the U.S. during that time include Chano Pozo
Chano Pozo
Chano Pozo was a percussionist, singer, dancer and composer who played a major role in the founding of Latin jazz...
, Mongo Santamaria
Mongo Santamaría
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All...
, Armando Peraza
Armando Peraza
Armando Peraza is a Latin jazz percussionist. Through his long associations with jazz pianist George Shearing, vibraphonist Cal Tjader and guitarist Carlos Santana, he has been internationally known from the 1950s through to the 1990s...
, Julito Collazo
Julito Collazo
Julio "Julito" Collazo was a master percussionist.Collazo was born in Havana, Cuba. He began playing the ritual music of Santería on the batá drums at the age of fifteen. He moved to United States in the fifties to join in a world tour with the Afroamerican dancer Katherine Dunham and her Dance...
, Carlos Vidal Bolado
Carlos Vidal Bolado
Carlos Vidal Bolado was a Cuban conga drum musician and was one of the original Machito and his Afro-Cuban boys. Bolado holds the double distinction of being the first to record authentic folkloric Cuban rumba and the first to play congas in Latin jazz Carlos Vidal Bolado (1914–1996) was a...
and Modetso Duran. During his long career Aguabella performed in Europe, Australia, South America, and all over the United States (including the White House). Francisco enjoyed an extensive music performing and recording career and delighted many audiences with his masterful and powerful rhythms.
Francisco performed with many great Jazz artists such as Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Tito Puente
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
, Mongo Santamaria
Mongo Santamaría
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri , is a Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican pianist, bandleader and musician, best known for combining jazz piano and instrumental solos with Latin rhythms.-Early years:...
, Cachao, Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
, Cal Tjader
Cal Tjader
Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. a.k.a. Cal Tjader was a Latin jazz musician, though he also explored various other jazz idioms. Unlike other American jazz musicians who experimented with the music from Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America, he never abandoned it, performing it until his...
, Nancy Wilson, Poncho Sanchez
Poncho Sanchez
Poncho Sanchez , a Mexican-American, is a conguero , Latin jazz band leader, and salsa singer. In 2000, Sanchez and his ensemble won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album for their work on the Concord Picante album Latin Soul...
, Bebo Valdes
Bebo Valdés
Bebo Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was a central figure in the golden age of Cuban music, led two famous big bands, and was one of the 'house' arrangers for the Tropicana Club.Valdés started his career as a pianist in the night clubs of Havana during the 1940s...
and numerous others. Francisco was honored to receive numerous awards including the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Durfee Foundation's Master Musicians' Fellowship, and recognition by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. He is featured in the documentary, "Sworn to the Drum" by filmmaker Les Blank, and is featured in a documentary, "Aguabella," currently in production, directed by actor/filmmaker Orestes Matacena (The Mask, Bitter Sugar). He has also appeared with his ensemble on television programs including the Orlando Jones Show on FX.
During the 1970s he was a member of the Jorge Santana
Jorge Santana
Jorge Santana is a Mexican guitarist, brother of musician Carlos Santana.He was a former member of Malo who had a top twenty hit "Suavecito" in 1972....
Latin rock band Malo
Malo
Malo was an American Latin-tinged rock and roll group. The San Francisco-based ensemble was led by Arcelio Garcia and Jorge Santana, the brother of Latin-rock guitarist, Carlos Santana....
. Francisco was a widely recognized master conguero and bata artist, a caring and knowledgeable instructor. In 1992 he won a National Heritage Fellowship
National Heritage Fellowship
The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts...
from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
. Aguabella was a faculty member at the annual Explorations in afro-cuban dance and drum
Explorations in afro-cuban dance and drum
The annual Explorations in Afro-Cuban Dance & Drum workshops are hosted by the Humboldt State University Office of Extended Education in Arcata, California...
workshop hosted by the Humboldt State University
Humboldt State University
Humboldt State University is the northernmost campus of the California State University system, located in Arcata within Humboldt County, California, USA. The main campus, nestled at the edge of a coast redwood forest, is situated on Preston hill overlooking Arcata and with commanding views of...
Office of Extended Education in Arcata, California
Arcata, California
-Demographics:-2010 Census data:The 2010 United States Census reported that Arcata had a population of 17,231. The population density was 1,567.4 people per square mile...
. He lived in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
where he taught Afro-Cuban drumming to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
.
Aguabella died in Los Angeles on May 7, 2010 of a cancer-related illness.
As leader
- 1977: Hitting Hard (Epsilon)
- 1993: Oriza: Santeria Religion Afrocubana (Cubop/Ubiquity RecordsUbiquity RecordsUbiquity Records is an American music label that focuses on funk, rare groove, soul, and hip hop and other musical genres. It is located in Costa Mesa, California and has a satellite office based in San Francisco, California...
) - 1999: Agua de Cuba (Cubop)
- 1999: H2O (Cubop)
- 2002: Cubacan (Cubop)
- 2002: Cantos a los Orishas (Pimienta Records)
- 2004: Ochimini (Cubop)
As sideman
With The DoorsThe Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
- Other VoicesOther Voices (The Doors album)Other Voices is the seventh studio album by The Doors released in 1971. It was the first album released by the band following the death of lead singer Jim Morrison.-Recording:...
(1971)
With Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
- The Rhythm of the SaintsThe Rhythm of the SaintsThe Rhythm of the Saints is the eighth studio album by Paul Simon, released in 1990. Like its predecessor Graceland, the album gained commercial success and received mostly favorable reviews from critics...
(1990)
Filmography
- 1954 — Mambo
- 1985 — Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella (directed by Les BlankLes BlankLes Blank is an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians....
)