Ray Barretto (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was a Grammy Award-winnin… Read Full Bio ↴Ray Barretto (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was a Grammy Award-winning Latin/Latin jazz musician of Puerto Rican ancestry.

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

What
Ray Barretto Lyrics

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Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, yea

Father, father

We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Ah, what's going on

In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on
Right on

Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Ya, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on - Uh

Right on baby
Right on baby

Overall Meaning

The song "What's Going On" by Ray Barretto is a cover of Marvin Gaye's hit song. The lyrics were written in response to the turbulent social and political times of the 1970s, addressing the issues of war, poverty, discrimination and the need for love, understanding and unity. The song opens with the singer addressing his mother, father and brother, expressing his deep concerns about the state of the world and the suffering of its people. He calls for love and unity, and emphasizes that war is not the answer, only love can conquer hate. He recognizes the violence of picket lines and picket signs, and urges everyone to talk and listen to each other.

Line by Line Meaning

Mother, mother There's too many of you crying
There are too many mothers crying over the world's problems

Brother, brother, brother There's far too many of you dying
The world needs peace, too many people are dying

You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today, yea
We need to find a way to bring love and peace to everyone, starting today

Father, father We don't need to escalate
Father, we don't need to make things worse

You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate
War is not the solution, only love can overcome hate

Picket lines and picket signs Don't punish me with brutality
Don't hurt me because of what I stand for

Talk to me, so you can see Oh, what's going on What's going on Ya, what's going on Ah, what's going on
Talk to me and understand what's wrong with the world, what's happening, and why it's happening

In the mean time Right on, baby Right on Right on
For now, let's focus on what is right and good

Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong Oh, but who are they to judge us
Father, many people think we're doing something wrong, but they don't have the right to judge us

Simply because our hair is long Oh, you know we've got to find a way To bring some understanding here today Oh
People are judging us based on our appearance, but we need to find a way to make them understand and come to an understanding

Tell me what's going on I'll tell you what's going on - Uh Right on baby Right on baby
Let's talk about what's happening in the world and figure out what we can do to make things better, for now let's focus on what is right and good

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Alfred W Cleveland, Marvin P Gaye, Renaldo Benson

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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