Rafael Ithier, founder of the emblematic salsa group El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, has died at age 99. The pianist, composer and arranger — who served as the orchestra's longtime musical director — spent more than six decades turning El Gran Combo into one of the premier salsa institutions of Latin America and beyond.

"Today we bid farewell to not only a great musician, but the architect of a sound that marked generations," reads a statement shared on the orchestra's social media accounts on Sunday. "A leader whose discipline, vision and love for salsa forged the history of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and of Latin music in the world."

Born in San Juan in 1926, Ithier began playing guitar when he was 10 years old. According to the Puerto Rican nonprofit Fundación Nacional Para La Cultura

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