Federico Arístides Soto Alejo (June 30, 1930 – February 4, 2008), better known as Tata Güines, was a Cuban percussionist, bandleader and arranger. He was widely regarded as a master of the conga drum, and alongside Carlos “Patato” Valdés, influential in the development of contemporary Afro-Cuban music, including Afro-Cuban jazz. He specialized in a form of improvisation known as descarga, a format in which he recorded numerous albums throughout the years with Cachao, Frank Emilio Flynn, Estrellas de Areito, Alfredo Rodríguez and Jane Bunnett, among others. In the 1990s he released two critically acclaimed albums as a leader: Pasaporte and Aniversario. His composition “Pa’ gozar” has become a standard of the descarga genre.

Arístides Soto was born in Güines, a town east of Havana in the former province of Havana in Cuba, on June 30, 1930. He grew up with his parents and his seven siblings, leaving school after year 4 to work as a shoeshiner and paperboy. His mother, María de los Ángeles Soto, took care of the house, while his father José Alejo Vasallo “Joseíto” was a cane worker. He was exposed to music from a young age; Joseíto played the tres in the Sexteto Partagás and used to jam with Arsenio Rodríguez, who lived nearby. Tata made his first bongó-like drums out of a sausage jar and a carton of milk in order to join them on percussion. He taught himself the conga by listening to recordings on the radio and playing at concerts, balls and jam sessions as an amateur. He played in his father’s group, as well as in Las Estrellas Nacientes, directed by his uncle Dionisio. He considered Chano Pozo el maestro (the master) and had the opportunity to play with him; Chano encouraged him and Tata never forgot the experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7IDGvj8vXk