(Prensa Latina - Cumbancha) Havana, Cuba - Cuban kettledrum player Amadito Valdes, nominated for a 2004 Grammy Award for his album Bajando Gervasio, said that the late Puerto Rican percussionist Tito Puente is still the king. In an interview with Prensa Latina at the famous EGREM Studios, in Havana, where the successful Buena Vista Social Club album was recorded, Valdes stated that Puente's death left an empty space in the percussion world that has not been filled, despite the fact that the kettledrum "was created in Cuba".