Virtuoso guiro and tambora player, Ray "El Chino" Diaz, plays in the meringue tradition. Born and raised in New York City, Ray maintains strong ties to his Caribbean heritage by preserving the authentic meringue rhythms of The Dominican Republic. Raised in a nurturing family atmosphere, Ray sites his father, also a timbale and guiro player, as his major musical influence. He also notes that, Caterey, the great Venezuelan tambora player, had a significant impact on his playing.

Ray’s career as a tambora player has spanned the better part of twenty years, during which time he has worked with skilled musicians like Mario Rivera, Los Vecinoes, Arsenio de la Rosa and "La Munequita" Lydia de la Rosa. Ray also plays conga, timbale, and bata, and is an accomplished audio re-mix engineer. His unique re-mix style fuses traditional Latin rhythms with contemporary electronic dance beats, and he has worked his digital magic for artists like Enrique Iglesias and the Latin Rapper "El General".

These Days, Ray is happiest playing his favorite Merengue music on the newly engineered LP Wood Rim Tambora or LP Bata Drums.

Check out these sound clips of Ray Diaz performing with "La Munequita" Lidia de la Rosa.
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