Buena Vista Social Club double bassist Orlando 'Cachaito' Lopez has died at the age of 76 in Havana as a result of complications arising from prostate surgery.
Lopez was born in Havana in 1933, to a musical family. His uncle was famous bassist and mambo innovator Israel 'Cachao' Lopez, and his grandfather Pedro insisted that he take up the bass as it was a family tradition. He began performing at the age of eleven, and had composed his first piece by the time he was thirteen.
In the fifties he played with popular dance band Orquesta Riverside, but it was in later life that he came to international attention, as a member of Buena Vista Social Club, and as a star in his own right, winning a BBC Radio 3 Award for his ground breaking debut solo 'Word Music' back in 2002.
His death has been confirmed by fellow musician Manuel Galban, who said: "We have lost a great companion. I will remember him as marvellous, both in his music and as a person. He was extraordinary, affable, a great bassist".