Drummer and Latin Jazz percussionist Ray Barretto. The photo, courtesy of Aurora Communications, was believed to be taken at a concert in New York City sometime in 2005.

New York, NY –May 24, 2006– The New York City Council held a special ceremony to issue a posthumous proclamation honoring the lifetime achievements and musical heritage of Ray Barretto. Born in Brooklyn on April 29, 1929 and a long time resident of el barrio, East Harlem and the Bronx, Council member Melissa Mark Viverito, who sponsored the proclamation and who hosted the ceremony, noted: “Ray Barretto leaves all New Yorkers an important legacy that joins the music from the Caribbean with the music created by Latino immigrants in New York. He opened doors to other musicians while also forging a partnership with the jazz world. Most important, Ray Barretto was a humanitarian sensitive to just causes.”

The ceremony took place in conjunction with the new release of an exceptional double CD commemorative box set that will be presented to City Council members by Fania Records where Barretto recorded the majority of his salsa discography. “We’re very proud of this package as it is more of a commemoration of his life’s work than a compilation of best hits,” underscored Fania Records spokesperson, Giora Breil.

Accepting the proclamation were the widow of Ray Barretto, Mrs. Annette Barretto and, his son, Christopher Barretto.

More on Ray Barretto:

For nearly 40 years, conguero, composer and bandleader Ray Barretto was one of the leading forces in both salsa and Latin jazz. Barretto’s compelling playing style earned him the title of “manos duros” or Hard Hands for his hard driving percussive style. As a pioneer of the salsa movement, Barretto achieved international superstardom and released nearly two dozen albums with the Fania label from the late-'60s to the mid-1980's

Influenced as deeply by the bebop jam sessions held in Harlem during the late-'40s as by his Puerto Rican ancestry, Barretto is one of the most prolific and renowned Latin percussionists in the history of modern jazz. Few artists have been as successful over the years at fusing these two genres as Barretto, an undisputed master of this style.

Barretto spent over four decades refining the integration of Afro-Caribbean rhythms with the improvisational elements of jazz and his work has graced the recordings of saxophonists Gene Ammons, Lou Donaldson, Sonny Stitt, and guitarists Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell. It was the tune “Manteca” recorded by Gillespie with Chano Pozo on percussion that drove Barretto to music. And it was a version of that same tune that became Barretto’s first recording with Red Garland.

Born in Brooklyn, raised in East Harlem’s “El Barrio” and in the South Bronx, Barretto was one of the founding members of the Fania All Stars, leading the salsa movement and achieving international superstardom. While working with his own bands, his congas graced more recordings than any other conguero in history. Ray Barretto was also the first Latino musician to have a hit enter the Billboard Top 20 charts when the song “El Watusi” was awarded a gold record in 1963. In 1990 he won a Grammy for the album “Ritmo en el Corazon” (Rhythm in the Heart) which featured the vocals of the “Queen of Salsa,” Celia Cruz. On the Fania label, Barretto recorded with every major salsa star including Ruben Blades, Ismael Miranda, Cheo Feliciano and Tito Puente.

Barretto as voted Jazz Percussionist of the Year in 2004 and won the Down Beat Critics Award for Percussion in 2005. He recorded with legends such as the Rolling Stones, Freddy Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, The Bee Gees, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Cannonball Adderly and Cal Tjader. In 2006, right before his death, Ray Barretto was awarded the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Fellowship, which he stated, was the “gift of a lifetime.”

Some words of my own.....

Ray Barretto was a giant in the music industry, and not just for his contributions to Latin music. He was part of the wave of those who forged early fusion, dating back to the noted trumpet player, Dizzy Gillespie, in the 1940's.

This writer last met Ray Barretto early this year at the International Association of Jazz Educators ( I-A-J-E ) conference held in New York city. He was always accessible, and open to discussing the changing face of Latin music and, Latin Jazz. This year, he was looking forward to performing at many of the upcoming Jazz and Latin music festivals, where he played such a big part in further spreading the music over the years. No one knew that the end was so near. Within weeks of receiving the NEA award at IAJE, Barretto would be stricken with a heart attack and, over the next several weeks, his condition worsened and that eventually led to his death. His loss sent shock waves through the Jazz and Latin music scene, as many in the Jazz world were just recovering from the loss of noted drummer, Elvin Jones, in 2004.

To understand the significance of Ray Barretto's passing, is to understand that there is now a huge void in the American music scene. He was the rarest of musicians on several fronts.... in the words of the late Big Band leader, Gil Evans, Barretto was a sound innovator. That is, a musician who changed the sound of an instrument. Gil Evans is known mostly as the man who made the landmark orchestral recordings with Miles Davis the mid-1950's and early 1960's. Evans said there are few sound innovators, and they mostly come from Classical and instrumental music. The noted exception, Evans later admitted, would be Jimi Hendrix, the late 1960's Rock guitarist, who changed the sound of the electric guitar. For Ray Barretto, himself a sound innovator, he was in search of new sounds, while remaining grounded in the music of his people..... Latin and Latin Jazz Music, and later, Salsa.

The City Council's proclamation this day is noted by the significance of the city losing yet another giant in the music industry. In New York Jazz circles there has been talk of the need for City officials to push for an annual Jazz parade. This talk first surfaced following the death of Miles Davis in September 1991. Several of the influencial Village Voice music critics brought the topic up again in recent years. The discussion has risen and fluttered away, and has appeared in other noted music publications over the past decade and a half but, this is a theme worth revisiting. Here's why.....

While New Orleans, Philadelphia, Chicago, Montreal, Los Angeles, Toronto, Atlanta, Tokyo, and even Newport, Rhode Island remain beacons of the Jazz scene, each hosting annual Jazz festivals, they last for a maximum of four days at each locale. JVC, the electronic company, is the main underwriter of Jazz festivals at the above named cities annually. Yet, it is interesting to note that out of over a dozen cities only Paris, France, and New York City, are able to sustain Jazz Festivals that run over two weeks. That's right, ONLY Paris and the Big Apple.

Like the argument for a New York Jazz parade in years past, this writer on this day, again, supports such a call. The possible date, as first argued in 1992, should be in late September, in and around the 28th, falling on the anniversary of the death of Miles Davis. The other reason, in the aftermath of 9 - 11, and because the month of September will forever be a sad time for New Yorkers in the coming generations, a Jazz parade would be the event to finish the month on a high note. If New York is the Jazz capital of the world, then, the Jazz parade in late September would, yet again, put the argument to rest. It would be a fitting tribute to those who have passed but left their mark. Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Tito Puente, Elvin Jones, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, Duke Ellington, Billy Eckstein, and Charlie Parker come to mind, as those who are considered giants in the music field. Ray Barretto belongs with the names listed above. So, with the passing, and the tribute by New York's City Council on the enormous contributions made by Ray Barretto on this day, it only underlines the necessity of having such an event. What are your thoughts?

Again, my salute to Ray Barretto, as well as to his wife, son, associates, Friends, and others close to him.

Thanks for spending time here. See you same time, same station!

Sincerely,

Eric K. Williams, Executive Director
International Access Networks.