Friday 19 April 2019

Ray Barretto born 19 April 1929


Ray Barretto (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was a Puerto Rican conga drummer and bandleader born in New York. He is credited for being the first U.S.-born percussionist to integrate the African-based conga drum into jazz. This fact has designated him as one of the early "crossover" artists in jazz -- skillfully balancing 
his Latin leanings and his love for bebop throughout a long and successful career.

While Ray Barretto's congas have graced more recording sessions than virtually any other conguero of his time, he has also led some refreshingly progressive Latin jazz bands over the decades. His records often have a tenser, more adventurously eclectic edge than those of most conventional salsa groups, unafraid to use electronics and novel instrumental or structural combinations, driven hard by his rocksteady, endlessly flexible percussion work.

Barretto’s parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico in the early 1920s, looking for a better life. He was raised in Spanish Harlem and at a young age was influenced by his mother's love of music and by the jazz of Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

In 1946, at17 years old, he joined the Army. While stationed in Germany, he met Belgian vibraphonist Fats Sadi. However, it was when he heard Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca" with Gil Fuller and Chano Pozo that he realized his calling.

In 1949, when Barretto returned home from military service, he started to visit clubs and participated in jam sessions, where he perfected his conga playing. On one occasion Charlie Parker heard Barretto play and invited him to play in his band. Barretto developed a unique style of playing the conga and soon he was 
sought by other jazz band leaders. Latin percussionists started to appear in jazz groups with frequency as a consequence of Barretto's musical influence.  Eventually he replaced Mongo Santamaria in the Tito Puente band for four years, beginning in the late '50s.

In 1960, Barretto was a house musician for the Prestige, Blue Note, and Riverside labels. He also recorded on Columbia Records with Jazz flautist Herbie Mann. New York had become the center of Latin music in the United States and a musical genre called pachanga was the Latin music craze of the early 1960s. Barretto made his debut as a leader for Riverside in 1962 and scored a crossover hit (number 17 on the pop charts) the following year on Tico with "El Watusi" (in tandem with a dance craze of the time).


                           

He tried to modernize the charanga sound with injections of brass, covering rock and pop tunes of the time as several Latin artists did then. However, Barretto made his main mark in the '60s as a super session player, playing on albums by Gene Ammons, Cannonball Adderley, Kenny Burrell, Lou Donaldson, Red Garland, Dizzy 
Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Wes Montgomery, Cal Tjader, and several other jazz and pop albums.

In 1965, Barretto signed with the Latin division of United Artists, UA Latino, and began recording a series of albums in the boogaloo genre, which merges rhythm and blues with Latin music. After recording four albums for the United Artists label, Barretto joined the Fania record label in 1967, and began to achieve recognition as one of the leading Latin jazz artists of the day, eventually becoming music director of the Fania All-Stars.

 In the '70s, he was incorporating rock and funk influences into his music -- with only limited success -- while recording for Atlantic, and in 1981, he made a highly regarded album for CTI La Cuna, with Puente, Joe Farrell, and Charlie Palmieri as guest players. He became music director of the Bravisimo television program and took part in the multi-idiom, all-star, anti-apartheid Sun City recording and video in 1985.

 In 1992, he unveiled a new Latin jazz sextet, New World Spirit, which made some absorbingly unpredictable albums for Concord Picante. In 1999, Barretto was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.


Barretto died of heart failure and complications of multiple health issues on February 17, 2006 at the Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. His body was flown to Puerto Rico, where Barretto was given formal honours by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture; his remains were cremated.

(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)

1 comment:

boppinbob said...

For “The Essential Ray Barretto – A Man & His Music (Que Viva La Música) (2007)” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/9845987/Ray_Barretto.rar.html

Disc 1
01 El Watusi 2:40
02 El Bantu 2:18
03 Senor 007 2:13
04 Do You Dig It 2:29
05 Soul Drummers 3:50
06 Hard Hands 2:27
07 Together 2:36
08 Right On 2:45
09 Acid 5:06
10 Abidjan 4:50
11 Power 6:09
12 The Other Road 6:03
13 Lucretia the Cat 5:35
14 Cocinando 10:09
15 Arrepientete 5:15

Disc 2
01 Que Viva La Musica 5:28
02 La Pelota 4:17
03 Indestructible 4:14
04 El Hijo De Obatala 5:03
05 Guarare 5:37
06 Vale Mas Un Guaguanco 4:21
07 Ya Vez 5:43
08 Tu Propio Dolor 4:13
09 Fuerza Gigante 4:41
10 Rhythm of Life 6:37
11 Manos Duras 5:12
12 Prestame Tu Mujer 6:14
13 Aguadilla 4:09

AllMusic Review by Evan C. Gutierrez

Produced only a short time after his death, Ray Barretto's A Man and His Music tells the story of a young conguero who went from sitting in on New York's after-hours jam sessions to becoming a Latin music household name, the most influential conguero of his lifetime. It's a long story, spanning better than 45 years and quite a few records, and it's surprising that the Fania label could cram it into a two-disc set. Beginning in his boogaloo years, with famous cuts like "El Watusi" and "Soul Drummers," the collection demonstrates that Barretto's habits of rule-breaking and genre-fusing were obviously formed early. These tracks show a sophistication that the majority of the boogaloo genre did not share. Moving on to Barretto's salsa/Latin jazz experimentation, "Abidjan" and "The Other Road" are a testament to his ongoing creativity. There are, of course, a number of his indispensable hits included, like "Indestructible," "Vale Mas un Guaguanco," and "Guarare." The absence of any of Barretto's genuine jazz work is noticeable and curious, but considering the source of this collection (Fania), that is understandable, if somewhat disappointing. There are guaranteed to be more than a few collections put together immortalizing the late, great master conguero/bandleader. For those who favour his salsa side, A Man and His Music is sure to please.

A big thank you to Crimhead420 @ Jazz-Rock-Fusion-Guitar blog for original post.