Ray Barretto - El Watusi (1965) Tribute

*Please note the correct year of release is 1965 not 1961*

Ray Barretto (April 29, 1929 February 17, 2006) was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician, widely credited as the godfather of Latin jazz.

Barretto (whose surname is really "Barreto"; a mistake at the time Ray's birth certificate was filed gave his last name its formal spelling) was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent. His 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 very young age was influenced by his mother's love of music and by the jazz music of musicians such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

In 1946, when Barretto was 17 years old, he joined the Army. While stationed in Germany, Barretto met Belgium vibist Fats Sadi, who was working there. However, it was when he heard Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca" with Cuban percussionist, Chano Pozo, that he realized his true calling in life.

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. Later, he was asked to play for Jose Curbelo and Tito Puente, for whom he played for four years. 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.

In 1960, Barretto was a house musician for the Prestige, Blue Note, and Riverside labels. New York had become the center of Latin music in the United States and a style called "Charanga" was the Latin music craze of the time.

In 1961, Barretto recorded his first hit, "El Watusi", the first Latin song to enter in April 1963 the Billboard charts. He was quite successful with the song and the genre, to the point of being type casted (something that he disliked). In 1967, he joined the Fania record label where he recorded the 1968 album Acid, an experiment joining rhythm and blues with Latin music. Just as his salsa group attained a remarkable following most of its members left it to form Tipica 73, a multinational salsa conglomerate. This left Barretto depressed and disappointed with salsa; he then redirected his efforts into Latin jazz, while remaining as musical director of the Fania All Stars. Acid contained the song "Deeper Shade of Soul", which was sampled for the 1991 Billboard Hot 100 #21 hit of the same name by Dutch band Urban Dance Squad.

Barretto played the conga in recording sessions for the Rolling Stones and the Bee Gees. In 1975 he was nominated for a Grammy Award for the song "Barretto". From 1976 to 1978, Barretto recorded three records for Atlantic Records, and was nominated for a Grammy for Barretto Live...Tomorrow. In 1979, he recorded La Cuna for CTI records, and produced a salsa record for Fania, titled Ricanstruction, which was named 1980 "Best Album" by Latin N.Y. Magazine, with Barretto crowned as Conga Player of the Year.

In 1990, Barretto finally won a Grammy for the album Ritmo en el Corazon ("Rhythm in the Heart"), which featured the vocals of Celia Cruz. In 1999, Barretto was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.

Barretto lived in New York and was an active musical producer, as well as the leader of a touring band which has embarked in tours of the United States, Europe, Israel and Latin America.

[edit] Death
Barreto died on February 17, 2006 at the Hackensack University Hospital of heart failure and multiple health complications. His body was flown to Puerto Rico, where Barretto was given formal honors by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture; his remains were eventually cremated.

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• Barretto
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• Watusi
• 1965
• Latin
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[tauro2]

Carlito's way!

[TheBacmaster]

@prunepurple Probably because it's a mistake.

[repoman2665]

que viva CUBA, PURTO RICO,E SANTO DOMINGO, were music has a meaning, and were we afro carribean have not for gotten were we came from mother AFRICA! were in every song that we play here in SANTO DOMINGO, PURETO RICO, CUBA! we hit the drums for you! and in our harte you ecko! so far from HOME!!!

[MrRomans829]

@repoman2665 TRUE, MAN WAS MADE FROM DIRT. SO IT DOES NOT MATTER DIRT IS DIRT WHETHER IS BLCK, WHITE, SPANISH. THE MUSIC CAME FROM CUBA, AFRO CUBAN. THE PUERTO RICANS TOOK IT AND MADE IT POPULAR HERE IN AMERICA WHEN CASTRO LOCK CUBA DOWN ALONG WITH THE CUBANS THAT WERE HERE ALREADY, MACHITO, MARIO BAUZA AND MANNY MORE. IN THE 40s MARIO BAUZA AND MACHITO TOOK AFRO CUBAN MUSIC AND MIX IT WITH AMERICAN JAZZ. CHARLIE PARKER, FLIP PHILLIPS AND MANY MORE USED TO SIT IN WITH MACHITOS BAND AND PLAY. WOW

[repoman2665]

purto rican. domincana. CUBAN.we come from the same place braaa.

[repoman2665]

HAVANA CUBA!!! thats were it came from!!!

[repoman2665]

oue! it all came from the biggest baddest island!! in carribean!!! CUBA.

[undergrounhiph0p]

i love pacino he was dope in scarface an icon but WHY cant they have an actual rican play a RICAN in carlitos way! DAMMIT and the main girl HAD to be white-_- in BOTH movies..

[nmonllor]

@cristorey11 WRONG!!!!!!!

Puerto Rican music, Puerto Rican Jazz Music to be exact!!!!

[larrynealwaxmuseum]

One of my all time favorite records from the age of rock and roll which was recorded in a foreign language. Fairly big record here in OKC back in 1963. Good Post.

Larry N. Boyington, aka Larry Neal, former curator of the Wax Museum on the big 1520 KOMA