Timbales are a set of shallow, open-bottom drums that play a major, rhythmic role in Latin and Cuban music. These versatile drums are played with specialised sticks on both the drumhead and the drum's shell.
Born Ernesto Antonio "Tito" Puente in New York in 1923, Tito Puente was awarded the Billboard Latin Music Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995 and then the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 2003. With high-profile musical collaborations and appearance in shows such as Sesame Street and The Simpsons, Puente is often credited for bringing Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds to mainstream audiences. His most famous composition, Oye Como Va (1963), was popularised by Carlos Santana's 1970 cover version.
