Trivia

Jazz musician.

Children: Ray Jr., Raun, Kelly, and Christopher.

Helped define the role of the conga drum in jazz and became an influential figure in both jazz and Latin music during a career spanning more than 50 years.

National Endowment for the Arts gave him its Jazz Masters Award for lifetime achievement. He accepted the award at an induction ceremony in New York on Jan. 13, 2006 and suffered a heart attack two days later. He had quadruple bypass surgery on Jan. 20 and follow up open heart surgery on Jan. 29. He died nineteen days later.