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
Guarapo Y Melcocha
Ray Barretto Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
en una zanja de yuca
y los pollos del central
dicen que yo soy de azúcar.
Si tomo guarapo por la madrugá
lo bueno se queda, lo malo se va.
Con esa melcocha tan bien amasá.
No te vengas dando brocha
porque yo no creo en guapos
porque si tú eres melcocha
yo soy champú de guarapos.
Si tomo guarapo por la madrugá
lo bueno se queda, lo malo se va.
Con esa melcocha tan bien amasá.
lo bueno se queda, lo malo se va.
Yo soy guapo con los guapos
Soy melcocha con los pollos
Pirque si se dan de criollos
Lo que yo tengo es guarapo
The lyrics to Ray Barretto's song "Guarapo Y Melcocha" depict the singer as a proud and confident individual who grows sugarcane in his backyard. The lyrics describe how even the roosters at the nearby sugar mill consider him to be of sugar since he is so associated with the sugarcane crop. The song's protagonist enjoys consuming Guarapo, a juice extracted from sugarcane and highly popular in Latin America. He believes that by drinking Guarapo in the early morning, he can retain the good things while discarding the bad. He associates the Guarapo with melcocha, a sticky, sugary substance that can be molded into various shapes. He believes that by mixing the Guarapo with melcocha, he can ensure that all the good things in life stay with him while he rejects the negative aspects.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo tengo un cañaveral en una zanja de yuca
I have a sugar cane field in a ditch of yucca
y los pollos del central dicen que yo soy de azúcar.
The chickens from the sugar mill call me sweet.
Si tomo guarapo por la madrugá
If I drink guarapo early in the morning
lo bueno se queda, lo malo se va.
The good stays, the bad goes away.
Con esa melcocha tan bien amasá.
With the well-mixed melcocha.
No te vengas dando brocha
Don't come playing tough.
porque yo no creo en guapos
Because I don't believe in brave talk.
porque si tú eres melcocha
Because if you're sweet
yo soy champú de guarapos.
I'm the shampoo of guarapos.
Yo soy guapo con los guapos
I'm tough with the tough guys.
Soy melcocha con los pollos
I'm sweet with the chickens.
Pirque si se dan de criollos
Because if they act like they're country folk.
Lo que yo tengo es guarapo
What I have is guarapo.
Contributed by Noah A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@juancarlosalvarezrada832
Desde Palmira Valle del Cauca, un saludo especial a mi isla del encanto, orgullosa de sus grandes orquestas y vocalistas como mi Ray Barreto, a quien recuerdo con mucho cariño, un saludo especial al vocalista CALI ALEMAN.
@elcircunstanflautico
El vocalista de esta la version original es Ray de La Paz!
@vladimircroquer2486
Es así. En la Versión de Estudio lo cantan Eddie Temporal y Ray De La Paz. En vivo Cali Alemán si la canto
@juancarloslondonogrueso8804
La voz lìder es la de Ray De La Paz. Tremenda versiòn del tema boliviano. Para mì todo este àlbum es de lo màs grandioso que hizo el maestro Ray Barretto, por sus temas, sus mùsicos, sus compositores y sus cantantes. Tremendos. ¡Fuerza Gigante!
@juancarlosalvarezrada832
Este tema me extasía de sentimiento salsero ya que la salsa la llevo en la sangre, es un tema con unos arreglos musicales espectaculares, de esta salsa no vuelve a haber porque para hacer y componer estas canciones hay que tener mucho sentimiento.-
@irvingmisaelmanriquerodrig990
Poderoso legado del maestro Ray Barreto imposible no bailar .....💃🕺
@emmirmoran5582
La Salsa nunca pasara de moda y menos la salsa de este maestro "manos de piedra"
@hugoandresriascos4027
Ray Barreto un monstruo de la salsa dura. Que buen tema.
@lopz33
¡Tremenda versión clásica!
@edgararboleda8031
En mi opinión y gusto personal, este album (Gaint Force) y Rithm of the life, fueron los mejores que hizo Barreto....en ambos la orquestación es perfecta, muy fina, el soneo de Ray de la Paz, el timbal de Raphy Irrizary, todo