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He started out a lowly percussionist in Cuba, riding on the bumpers of pickup trucks to get to his gigs. By the 1950s, Tata Guines was playing with everyone from Dizzie Gillespie to Frank Sinatra, and over the years he loaned his skills to recordings by Cachao, Maraca and Cubanismo! A master conga player, Guines made tumbadoras (as they're called in Cuba) speak, underpinning the swing of countless bands but also breaking out into solos that left his audiences awestruck.