Miguel "Angá" Díaz

Miguel Aurelio "Angá" Díaz Zayas (June 15, 1961 – August 9, 2006) was a Cuban percussionist. He was a well-known conguero who also played the cajón, güiro and timbales.

Life and career Miguel Aurelio Díaz Zayas was born in San Juan y Martínez in the Pinar del Río Province in Cuba. Angá is a nickname he shared with his father.

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 Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Spain, on August 9, 2006. His second wife was the French-Venezuelan singer and photographer Maya Dagnino. They had twin daughters Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi, and later separated but remained friends. Maya Dagnino serves as their manager. Ibeyi pays tribute to both their late father and sister in their music.