Francisco passed away in Los Angeles last Friday, May 7, 2010 after a battle with cancer.

Francisco Aguabella started playing the drums at age twelve, beginning with the sacred bata drum.

Most famous for his mastery of the conga drums, he emigrated from Cuba in the 1950s and got his break performing with Katherine Dunham in the movie Mambo.

Francisco Aguabella taught Afro-Cuban drumming at the University of California, Los Angeles, was featured in the 1995 documentary \'Sworn to the Drum\', and received numerous awards, including the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Check the video from \'Sworn to the Drum\' where Carlos Santana talks about the man and swears \"the walls sweat\" when Francisco Aguabella played:

Francisco Aguabella is survived by two daughters, two sons and seven grandchildren.