Tito Matos was a highly acclaimed percussionist known for playing the Puerto Rican music genres Plena and Bomba. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, his grandfather gave him his first hand-held drum called a pandereta when he was a child. Pandereta is one of the primary instruments used in plena, an Afro-Puerto Rican style of rhythmic folk music. He was in the popular band Viento de Agua, known for combining plena with bomba, another Afro-Puerto Rican music style and adding jazz textures with a horn section. He was an educator and a cultural advocate for plena music in Puerto Rico.
Tributes to Tito Matos
My friend Tito Matos died this week. I can’t think of a single person who has done more for the soundtrack of Puerto Rico’s identity. Its culture. Its soul. Plena celestial, maestro. pic.twitter.com/5d1PtHL97k
Puerto Rican musician Tito Matos passed away today at age 53. He was a noted specialist in plena music, an Afro-Puerto Rican genere dating from about 1900 that has long been a popular form of social commentary… and the beat of Puerto Rican protests, thanks to its portability: https://t.co/tlsTQB42Jk
We are saddened to learn of the passing of Héctor “Tito” Matos Otero, a luminary musician and cultural leader who stewarded the practices of traditional Puerto Rican rhythms, bomba and plena. A celebration of life takes place today, 1/21, 4-9pm AST at @GoycoLa. pic.twitter.com/yv7ze9FDOD
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