Ray Barretto, a percussionist extraordinaire and legend in the Salsa & latin Jazz music community has left the music scene with his death in February 2006 at age 76.
Born of Puerto Rican descendence in Brooklyn during the depression, he lived with his mother in East Harlem, The South Bronx and other "boricua" districts before he joined the army, where in the latter 1940's he heard Dizzy Gillespie's hard bebop. The young man was transfixed by Dizzy Gillespie - Manteca," which featured conguero Chano Pozo.
He started sitting in at a Munich jazz club, and after his discharge, by the early 50's he had bought his own Cuban Cnga drum and was playing regularly at clubs like The Bucket of Blood. Soon Mambo was the rage, and Barretto eventually started playing with Tito Puente in 1957, replacing the famed Mongo Santamaria. He became a band leader on his own by 1961, and had a big hit with his group Charanga Moderna and their boogaloo dance craze single called "el Watusi" in 1963 that was the first Latin record to hit the Billboard top 20, and went Gold.
Barretto is credited by some for bringing the African Conga drum into popular music, and had a crossover appeal that transcended the genre boundries of mainstream music categories. He gained recognition beyond the Puerto Rican music scene, ex. played on many Blue Note albums. He beacme associated with the Latin label Fania in the 1960's and played for three decades in the popular ensemble called the Fania All Stars alongsde Willie Colon, Ruben Blades and others. His 1972 album, "Carnaval", is considered a masterpiece amongst latin Jazz afficianados with the songs "Cocinando Suave" and his interpretation of Gershwin's "Summertime".
Highlights of Barretto's run with the Fania All Stars were their tours of spots like Panama, Puerto Rico and Zaire where they played to 80,000 in Kinshasa before the Ali-Foremen fight. Undoubtedly their sell out concerts at N.Y's Yankee Stadium in 1973 & 1975 would have to be included as well.
In 1975 and 1976, Barretto earned back-to-back Grammy nominations for his solo albums "Barretto" (with the prize-winning song "Guarere") and his double "Barretto Live...Tomorrow". By 1976, although he had stopped performing & touring with his live salsa orchestra, he was regularly voted Best Conga Player in music magazine annual polls. He became interested in jazz fusion forms, and pursued this musical passion despite it's lack of commercial appeal. Barretto felt restricted by the Salsa scene, it's conventions and strict danceable format, and did not like the tag Latin Jazz either.
He teamed with singer Celia Cruz in 1983 for the first of several albums, finally winning a 1990 Grammy with her for their 1989 song "Ritmo En El Corazon". In 1992, he formed the ensemble New World Spirit, and was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
He had recently been named best drummer in the 2005 DownBeat poll, and received the NEA's 2006 Jazz Masters Fellowship before his health declined. His recent albums "Taboo" (1994), "My Summertime" (1998) and his final album 2005's "Time Was - Time Is" all received Grammy nominations for best Latin jazz performance.
Over the years he is said to have recorded more than 70 albums for numerous labels including Riverside, Atlantic, EMI, CTI, Fania, Tico, RCA Victor, Concord Picante, Prestige, Blue Note, Circular Moves, Sunnyside and his last for O+ Music. Amongst his many musical collaborators included Cannonball Adderly, Joe Farrell, Wes Montgomery, Cal Tjader, Charlie Palmieri, George Benson, Lou Donaldson, Dizzy Gillespie, José Curbelo , Adalberto Santiago, Steve Gadd, Hector Lavoe, Yusef Lateef, Gene Ammons, Red Garland, Ray Vega, Oscar Hernandez, Tito Gomez, and even Little Miami Steven Van Zant's Sun City project. At the time of his death in a New Jersey hospital, he was in his late 70's, and had recently had several health setbacks including suffering asthma, compounded by heart attack, bypass surgery, pneumonia , a tracheotomy and just enough damned ailments to take Fuerza Gigante down.
More Barretto Links & Sample MP3'z & Interviews available at
http://lilmikesf.blogspot.com/2006/02/conga-king-ray-barretto-rip.html
El Tiempo Lo Dira
Ray Barretto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
dejame tratar de asimilar
Quedate una noche más
dejame tratar de entender
prometo no hablar
prometo no tocarte
el tiempo dira si me voy, si no estas
núnca más, la noche hablara
si me voy si no estas nunca mas
quedate una noche mas aunque solo
crusen las miradas
quedate una noche mas, siento que sera la ultima vez
prometo no llorar, prometo no acercarme
El tiempo dira si me voy, si no estas, núnca más
La noche hablara si me voy, si no estas, núnca mas
Prometo no hablar, Prometo no hacercarme
El tiempo dira si me voy, si no estas, núnca más
La noche hablara si me voy, si no estas núnca más
The lyrics of the song El Tiempo Lo Dira by Ray Barretto speak about a person's desire to stay with their partner for one last night before they leave them. The singer is attempting to come to terms with their upcoming departure, and they are hoping that spending one last night together will help them understand and accept the situation better. Despite their feelings, the singer promises not to talk or touch their partner, knowing that the passing of time will ultimately determine their fate. The singer is resigned to the fact that they may never see their partner again, and the night will be the only one that speaks for them.
The lyrics capture the raw emotions of someone going through a tough and heartbreaking situation where they have to let go of someone they love. The song is a melancholic plea to stay with someone, even if it's just for one night, to try and come to terms with the inevitable. The use of repetition in the chorus emphasizes the importance of time in revealing the truth, and how the night itself becomes almost a character in the song, speaking for the two lovers who are unable to voice their feelings.
Overall, El Tiempo Lo Dira is a powerful ballad that speaks to the heart of anyone who has experienced the pain of separation or the struggle of letting go of something that they hold dear.
Line by Line Meaning
Quedate una noche más
Stay for one more night
dejame tratar de asimilar
Let me try to come to grips
Quedate una noche más
Stay for one more night
dejame tratar de entender
Let me try to understand
prometo no hablar
I promise not to speak
prometo no tocarte
I promise not to touch you
el tiempo dira si me voy, si no estas
Time will tell if I leave, if you're not there
núnca más, la noche hablara
Never again, the night will speak
si me voy si no estas nunca mas
If I leave and you're not there, never again
quedate una noche mas aunque solo
Stay for one more night even if only
crusen las miradas
our eyes meet
quedate una noche mas, siento que sera la ultima vez
Stay for one more night, I feel like it will be the last time
prometo no llorar
I promise not to cry
prometo no acercarme
I promise not to get closer
El tiempo dira si me voy, si no estas, núnca más
Time will tell if I leave, if you're not there, never again
La noche hablara si me voy, si no estas, núnca mas
The night will speak if I leave, if you're not there, never again
Prometo no hablar
I promise not to speak
Prometo no hacercarme
I promise not to get closer
El tiempo dira si me voy, si no estas, núnca más
Time will tell if I leave, if you're not there, never again
La noche hablara si me voy, si no estas núnca más
The night will speak if I leave, if you're not there, never again
Writer(s): ROBERTO ORLANDO RODRIGUEZ
Contributed by Colton G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ramonbou2728
Adarberto y barreto y er tienpo lo dira sin duda una conbinasion como ninguna otra. Y er tienpo k lo.diga er tienpo camara