Cuban born master percussionist Román Díaz is a “living repository” of Afro-Cuban culture. He is a noted scholar of Cuban religious and folkloric music as well as a composer and performer of contemporary Afro-Cuban music and Jazz .  He has performed and recorded with Cuban diva Mercedíta Valdes, Canadian Jane Bunnett, Juan Carlos Formell, Paquito D’Rivera, and folkloric artist, Orlando “Puntilla” Rios, and Pianist Danílo Pérez. He has also recorded with the Afro-Cuban folkloric groups; Yoruba Andabo, Raices Profundas and Los Marqueses de Atares. He has also performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Museum.

As a member of the seminal Rumba ensemble, Yoruba Andabo, Díaz aided in the creation of the sound that has defined contemporary Rumba since the 1980’s in Cuba and around the world. In 2016 UNESCO designated Cuban Rumba a “World Heritage” elevating the importance of Rumba as a human cultural art form. A new rhythm called Guarapachangeo which incorporates Bata and the wooden cajón (box) into modern Rumba is the legacy of the late, Pancho Quinto, founder of Yoruba Andabo. Díaz continues to innovate the song style as well as migrating the conical two-headed Bata drum from religious music into contemporary Jazz.

Roman Diaz has been a foundational member of New York based pianist/composer, Michele Rosewoman’s, 11-piece New Yor-Uba ensemble since 2008 recording on two New Yor-Uba releases issued on Rosewoman’s Advance Dance Disques label. 2013 release, New Yor-Uba, 30 Years!, was the 2013 #1 NPR Latin Jazz Recording of the Year.  “Hallowed”, released November 2019, features  “Oru de Oro”  (room of gold), a 10-track suite of original music written around a sacred sequence of Bata rhythms honoring 23 Orishas (Yoruba deities) with Mr. Díaz directing the Bata section. “This work was built from earth up and from sky out on the foundation of the form, contours and mastery of folklorist/percussionist Román Díaz” said Rosewoman of Diáz’s contribution to the recording. As a producer, he brought together some of the finest interpreters of Cuban Rumba for the 1998 recording, “Wemilere”.

Román Díaz migrated to New York City 21 years ago. Since then he has been much sought after as a teacher, musician and collaborator with top Rumba and Jazz artists. He is featured alongside Orlando “Puntilla” Rios in the critically acclaimed 2000 documentary, “Calle 54”, and also in the 2004 documentary, “Dame La Mano”.  The film chronicles the life and times of Union City’s Esquina Habanera, the Grammy nominated Rumba ensemble, Raíces Habanera, and their fans.  His mastery of Batá can be heard on countless recordings and he also does solo performances incorporating spoken word while playing a variety of Afro-Cuban instruments.

Román Díaz is a noted scholar of Afro-Cuban traditions. He taught at Havana’s Escuela Nacional de Instructores de Arte (the Cuban National Academy for Arts Instructors). Since moving to the U.S. he has also been a guest lecturer at Berklee College of Music, Harvard University, Yale University, Rutgers University, Humboldt State University Afro-Cuban Camp and New York’s New School. He has traveled globally performing and teaching master classes on Afro-Cuban culture and percussion in Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Israel and Panama. One of his lecture topics is about the once clandestine male secret society, Abakuá, brought to Cuba from Calabar, West Africa (Nigeria). His most recent academic lecture and performance was for U Mass in May of 2020 and was executed using the digital video platform, Zoom, bringing Díaz and his folkloric lectures and performances into the digital age.

Great artists build upon the traditions of their masters to evolve their art form. Román Díaz’s foundation is built on 500 years of Afro-Cuban religious and folkloric culture which has been taught from master to student for generations.  His most famous student and Godson is Grammy winner, Pedrito Martinez, with whom he has also performed and recorded. In Cuba they have a saying for a person who is rich in cultural knowledge and traditions. They are called a “mina de oro” or gold mine.  Roman Díaz truly is a gold mine and someone whose wealth of cultural knowledge is worth exploring. Please direct all inquiries for lectures, classes, and performances to Roman at RomanDiazBata.com