"The death Saturday of the Cuban musician known to the world by his nickname, Cachao -- the legendary instrumentalist, composer and bandleader Israel López -- marks nearly the bittersweet end of a golden era of Cuban music," Enrique Fernandez writes in the Miami Herald about the death of Cachao Lopez from kidney failure at age 89.

"I for one, am very sad at the passing of one who was for many like a musical Babalao, a high priest, a great teacher, the keeper of the ancient knowledge that defines us," the journalist Roberto Lovato wrote in a tribute to Cachao on his website, Of América. "Cachao now lives in that Pentheon of musicos who power my own madness from the asylum of the Great Beyond, better known as 'El Mas Alla'". 

Fernandez' Miami Herald article points out that, "Cachao, born into a musical family, was one of the most important figures in Cuban music, on or off the island. Conservatory-trained and a child prodigy, he played popular music professionally from the age of 8 and joined a symphony orchestra when he was 13.

"Cachao's passing joins other greats of that golden era, including Celia Cruz, who died in 2003; composer René Touzet, who also died in 2003; trombonist Generoso Jiménez, in 2007, and percussionists Carlos ''Patato'' Valdez, 2007, and Federico Arístides Soto, known as Tata Güines, this year."