Héctor “Tito” Matos, a master of Puerto Rico’s indigenous music forms, bomba and plena, died on Jan. 18, at his home in the city of Santurce, Puerto Rico. He was 53.

His family confirmed his death to El Nuevo Dia, without providing a cause.

As cofounder of the band Viento De Agua, Matos helped modernize the bomba and plena traditions with the addition of trap drums and keyboards; elements of funk, rock and jazz harmony; and arranging techniques that have influenced every subsequent group in the styles today.

A virtuoso percussionist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader, Matos was also a committed educator who was passionate in his preservation and propagation of the island’s African-rooted music forms, especially plena. Whereas bomba is rooted in Bantú Congolese rhythms played on barrel drums covered with goat skin, accompanied by a large maraca and two sticks known as the cuá striking any wood surface, the plena is a separate art form with its own history and rhythmic language.

Born in the cities of Guayama and Ponce in the late 19th century, its acknowledged creator was a Black ox plow driver, Joselino “Bum Bum” Oppenheimer. The genre’s first acknowledged composer, he taught his new creations in tertulias (gatherings) held in bars. At its heart is its propulsive rhythm and a vocal tradition of commenting on the day’s events, society, local gossip, politics, love of country, news, or any other topic of importance. Thus it became known as the island’s musical newspaper.

“He was one of the most important innovators of plena, especially with his work with Viento de Agua, while cultivating in great detail the most traditional and popular roots of the genre.”