Diego "Mofeta" Iborra - Drums, Percussions
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Drummer/percussionist Diego "Mofeta" Iborra was born on February 4,
1919, in Camajuaní--the hometown of bongosero Marcelo El Blanco and
vocalists Bobby Carcassés and Rolando Laserie, among other great
Cuban musicians. Diego's father was a flutist who worked with
Havana's Symphonic Orchestra, after the Iborra family moved to the
island's capital. Although the violin was Diego's first instrument,
he quickly switched to the drumset, making his percussive debut with
René Touzet's big band at Havana's Montmartre.
In the 1940s, Diego enjoyed the best of two musical worlds as he traveled back and forth between Havana and New York, along with his fellow Cuban drummer/percussionist, the late Guillermo "Bill" Alvarez. In addition to the drumset, Diego and Guillermo had mastered various Cuban percussion instruments, while adhering to the idea of combining criollo hand drumming with U.S. jazz. It appears that they were the first Cuban percussionists to record with such bebop icons as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. |