Musica tipica puertorriqueña: Musica de Puerto Rico – Historia y Origen

La Musica De Puerto Rico Rices y Evolucion

La Musica De Puerto Rico Rices y Evolucion

La Música de Puerto Rico

Raíces y Evolución

La Bomba

Género musical folclórico de Puerto Rico que se canta, baila y toca al son de tambores con variedad de ritmos.

ver contenido

La Plena

Música folclórica puertorriqueña que se distingue por los cantos de llamado y respuesta al ritmo de panderos y güiro.

ver contenido

La Musica Jíbara

Música que emplea seises y aguinaldos, décimas y decimillas acompañadas de cuatro, guitarra y güiro. 

ver contenido

La Danza

Género musical de Puerto Rico íntimamente asociado al baile y de ritmos particulares.

ver contenido

Enciclopedia Impresa (4 Tomos )

La enciclopedia de La Música de Puerto Rico Raíces y Evolución consta de cuatro tomos con texto e ilustraciones que se centran en cada una de estas tradiciones musicales: La Música Jíbara, La Danza, La Bomba y la Plena.

Acceso a todo el Contenido Audio Visual a travez de nuestro portal LaMusicaDePuertoRico.com

El proyecto incluye cuatro videos documentales educativos en audio visual y ocho conciertos musicales. Cada video documental está dividido en cinco categorías: Trayectoria Histórica, El Cantar, El Baile y el Vestuario, Taller Musical, Instrumentos y Ritmos. Cada género incluye dos conciertos: uno tradicional y otro experimental.

Acceso a blog y comentarios por el creador.

El portal cuenta con un blog donde el creador (William Cepeda o alguien más de la equipo de producción) compartirá información y reflexiones sobre la evolución de la música puertorriqueña. ¡No te pierdas las actualizaciones y participa en el diálogo con el equipo de La Música de Puerto Rico Raíces y Evolución a través del blog del portal!”

Lifetime Access

Oferta por tiempo limitado mientras duren.

Incluye:

Enciclopedia impresa, 4 Tomos. La Bomba, La Plena, La Musica Jibara y La Danza.

La Musica Jibara : Video Educativo / Documental

La Bomba: Video Educativo / Documental

La Musica Jibara: Concierto (Tradicional y Experimental )

La Bomba : Concierto (Tradicional y Experimental)

La Danza: Video Educativo / Documental

La Plena: Video Educativo / Documental

La Plena : Concierto (Tradicional y Experimental)

La Plena : Concierto (Tradicional y Experimental)

SUBSCRIBETE

¿Que es La Música de Puerto Rico Raíces y Evolución?

La música de Puerto Rico: raíces y evolución es un proyecto musical educativo producido por William Cepeda, Casabe Records, Inc. y Carimoods Entertainment.

Surge del interés por documentar nuestra música autóctona y tradiciones culturales puertorriqueñas, promover su desarrollo y explorar su potencial. El proyecto está dedicado a explorar cuatro tradiciones musicales que han sido fundamentales en el devenir histórico de Puerto Rico: la música jíbara, la bomba, la danza y la plena.

Los contenidos de este proyecto son el resultado de la colaboración de músicos, intérpretes, investigadores y simpatizantes de cada género.

LEER MAS

Sobre el autor

WILLIAM CEPEDA

William Cepeda ya es conocido como un ícono de la cultura puertorriqueña. Este artista, músico y compositor ha sido nominado a los premios Grammy. Revolucionó el género de la música latina en 1992 a través del grupo AfroRican Jazz, con una propuesta musical innovadora que mezcla música “world”, jazz progresista y música de las raíces folclóricas afropuertorriqueñas. 

Nació y se crió en el pueblo de Loíza, el corazón de la raíz africana en Puerto Rico. Su excelencia artística como compositor y artista visionario, su autenticidad y su activismo a favor de la investigación rigurosa y la documentación comprensiva de la música, el baile y la cultura de su país, lo han hecho merecedor de premios, becas y reconocimientos a nivel internacional.

williamcepeda. com

Unete a nuestra comunidad

La música esta en constante evolución, Mantente en contacto y conoce sobre nuestra musica.

Unete a nuestro “mailing list” Leer Terminos y Condiciones

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

LA MÚSICA TÍPICA CAMPESINA ANTE LOS TIEMPOS DE CRISIS – Radio Universidad de Puerto Rico

Por: Daliana Rosario

Es la música que más se escucha en la época navideña y la que nos identifica como puertorriqueños. Actualmente, la misma música que promueve nuestras raíces y nos remonta a la época del jíbaro campesino en las montañas de nuestro Puerto Rico. Aunque se ha visto afectada los últimos años y de por si es ignorada la mayor parte del año por los medios de comunicación masiva, la música típica campesina ha logrado reivindicarse con los años y asegurar su lugar en la cultura popular puertorriqueña.

La música típica campesina se compone mayormente de los géneros aguinaldo, danza y el seis. Estos géneros se distinguen de los otros géneros típicos, tales como la bomba y la plena, mayormente por sus métricas hexasílabas y octosílabas. También se diferencian por sus instrumentos mayormente de cuerdas, tales como el cuatro y la guitarra. Gracias a la enseñanza en la clase de español en las escuelas de Puerto Rico y los maestros de este género que se han dedicado a proliferar el amor por la música nacional enseñándoles a los niños, la música campesina ha continuado vigente en la cultura puertorriqueña. Las escuelas de Bellas Artes y los centros culturales, como la fundación Paquito López Cruz, se han encargado de continuar transmitiendo y promoviendo el desarrollo de esta música entre los más jóvenes.

Aunque suele ser más escuchada durante la época navideña, se escucha durante todo el año gracias a las fiestas patronales y a los concursos de trovadores. Estos eventos también auspician el gusto por esta música entre los puertorriqueños. Estas canciones aunque toma temas patrióticos, a su vez tocan muchos otros temas como el amor, el humor, lo cotidiano y la religión.

A pesar de ser uno de los pilares de la cultura puertorriqueña, la música típica campesina ha sufrido mucho para permanecer vigente en el mercado de música local. En entrevistas separadas el músico Juan Carlos “Kasho” Montalvo y el productor Andrés “Cucho” Pérez señalaron que uno de los mayores impedimentos de la comercialización de la música puertorriqueña ha sido la falta de puertorriqueños en la administración de los medios de comunicación locales.

PODCAST SOBRE EL SEIS Y EL AGUINALDO PUERTORRIQUEÑO

“Los medios de comunicación de Puerto Rico han subestimado la música típica campesina.”, aseguro Juan Carlos “Kasho” Montalvo, músico y coproductor del programa Cantapueblo. Montalvo denunció que el mayor problema para la difusión de la música típica campesina es que la mayor parte de los medios de comunicación de Puerto Rico son dirigidos por empresarios extranjeros y su enfoque no está dirigido a promover la música típica autóctona. A su vez también señaló la falta del auspicio de los cantantes puertorriqueños de talla internacional, quienes no se aventuran a promocionar y producir las canciones de este género.

Otro gran problema que enfrentó la música típica puertorriqueña estos últimos cuatro años fue la legislación 189 del año 2011. La misma logró eximir a los municipios de la obligación de invertir un 30 por ciento o 10,000 en música autóctona puertorriqueña utilizando la premisa de que esta tarifa no se ajusta a la realidad social y a la preferencia musical que se vive en Puerto Rico. La aprovación de esta legislación provocó un gran problema para la promoción del género, reduciendo su posibilidad, y para los trovadores en Puerto Rico, pues su mayor fuente de ingreso se vio disminuida drásticamente.

“Los intereses económicos han aplastado la cultura.”, afirmo Andrés “Cucho” Pérez, productor del programa Alborada, quien a su vez señalo que el gobierno debería fomentar mas la cultura ya que esta sensibiliza al pueblo. Pérez también denunció otros recortes del gobierno en otras áreas de las bellas artes, como en el desarrollo de programas que fomentan la danza y en las escuelas que fomentan las artes plásticas.

A pesar de vivir una de sus crisis más difíciles en años, los productores y artistas de la música típica campesina han encontrado una salida a tan difícil panorama. Gracias a las nuevas tecnologías de grabación, la producción de un disco es mucho más sencilla y económica. Ante este fenómeno, el productor Kasho Montalvo señaló que este fenómeno paradójico ha ayudado mucho a la industria de la música típica campesina y que este año se han producido cinco grabaciones.

Aunque se encuentre como un tipo de música clandestina, la esperanza de su resurgir no se pierde al fomentar el desarrollo de esta música en las escuelas y entre los más pequeños. La cultura debe ser llevada de generación en generación para no perder lo más puro y esencial que nos queda de nuestros orígenes y que remarca nuestra historia: la música.

Nota: Quiero agradecer al productor Andrés “Cucho” Pérez y al productor Juan Carlos “Kasho” Montalvo por su disposición y guía a través de la búsqueda de información del tema.

Like this:

Like Loading…

Tomsk | The evolution of pop music: the XXI century

Progress does not stand still, and even more so in the field of pop music. What was Russian popular music like at the turn of the century, and what has it become now, let’s try to find out, remembering the milestones in the development of Russian pop

Popular music that young people listen to en masse is constantly changing. Along with generations, tastes change, and the growing globalization interdependence of the world does not allow artists to stand still with poets and composers, and music lovers along with them.

Provocative musical group Tatu

Popular music has never been distinguished by special virtuosity and sophistication, it is light, momentary, close to the majority. This music responds to the demands of society, or vice versa, it instills its own values ​​in a huge number of teenagers and young people. What can we say, popular music, in a sense, educates generations. Over the past 20 years, Russian “pop music” has undergone a number of significant and not very changes. She became more daring, “liberal”, open to experiments, but they were not always successful and useful for fragile minds. Although who knows in which direction creativity should evolve so as not to ruin the taste and intellectual development of schoolchildren and students, and also not to destroy their moral guidelines.

Before 2000s Russian and, to a greater extent, Soviet pop music differed from, for example, American, by greater lyricism, the rejection of vivid sexual overtones in songs, and the presence of a taboo on the use of obscenities. It was cleared by censorship, did not differ in the brightness and expressiveness of the text. Ideological and technological stagnation played an important role in this. But what happens to popular music today? Is freedom of speech that sees no boundaries so good?

Star Factory Artists

Pop music in the 2000s

“Pops” of the first decade of the XXI century. did not completely get rid of the “remnants” of the USSR, Russian youth listened to songs with touching lyrics about love, lyrical and restrained. Even the revolutionaries “ Tatu ” with their frank behavior on stage and in clips broadcast pure childish, by no means vulgar love (at least at first). In the 2010s, hip-hop artists began to fill the playlists of Russian teenagers more and more.

And, finally, by the end of the decade, a new trend emerged that frightens many professional artists – music began to be created on a large scale by young singers and singers without musical education, and that critics constantly emphasize, sometimes without talent, at least in vocals . At the forefront were those who know how to use “hype” (intrusive advertising that forms consumer preferences through deception or a trick to attract attention – ed.). At the end of 19In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Russian stage began to change due to the growing influence of world music, especially American music. The invasion of the West marked a new era in Russian popular music.

One of the main star groups was the aforementioned “ Tatu “, created in 1999. Even then, the notorious hype was used, invented by the producer of “tatushki” Ivan Shapovalov, who began to flirt with the audience with the help of youthful same-sex love on stage. “ Tatu ” is by no means an ordinary phenomenon for the Russian stage of that time. Although almost all the elements of creativity used in the group have already been encountered by other performers. The provocative concept of the duet, frank behavior on stage and in clips, bordered by a young age and purity of feelings and spiritual impulses of the performers, have borne fruit that exceeds all reasonable expectations. The combination of all of the above turned out to be unique and on a global scale – then in Western pop music, chastity was in vogue for teenagers. “Tatushki” became popular not only in Russian show business, but also in other countries – the USA, Germany, Japan.

In 2002, the well-known show “Star Factory” thundered all over Russia. It did not last long in its original form – until 2007. However, it must be said that a large number of modern pop stars were forged here. The future artists settled in the “star house” were under the cameras around the clock, attended special classes, where they improved in vocals, choreography, acting, and psychology. “ Star Factory ” gave the Russian stage pop groups “Factory”, “Roots”, “Chelsea”, “BiS”, “Yin-Yang”. The project opened performers who are still popular today – Lena Temnikova and Polina Gagarina – both represented Russia at Eurovision. At the “Star Factory” rapper Timati announced himself, who does not leave the screens of YouTube and Instagram today. Despite the great competition in the genres of hip-hop and rap, the artist managed to stay in the media space. Also from Star Factories “Irina Dubtsova, Stas Piekha, Victoria Daineko, Dmitry Koldun, Prokhor Chaliapin, Rita Dakota came out. Many of these artists quickly lost popularity, but some continue to stir up interest in their personas and delight fans with new songs. In part, they managed to stay in the public eye thanks to the social network Instagram that invaded the lives of the youth of the 2010s, where stars from different angles began to cover their lives – private and public.

« Star Factory “, like everything that happened and is happening in Russian pop music, has been criticized more than once. It is curious that Diana Arbenina, a prominent representative of Russian rock, did not recognize either the Star Factory or modern show business, which declared itself at the MUZ TV 2021 awards.

“It’s really terrible. These are the songs I try not to listen to on the radio. <...> The songs of my colleagues, often, which simply defy any description, because well, this is complete insanity, ”commented Diana of the Factory stars.

About the MUZ TV 2021 award, the rock musician spoke as follows: “A hellishly stupid song about a bee, an infantile boy Slava, Klava, God forgive me, Koka and tons of children deprived of talent. I was especially delighted with the epithets “idol of millions” addressed to almost every helpless “freshman”, who in a year will be washed away by a wave of the same consumer goods.”

You can’t please D. Arbenina. A rocker will never understand a pop musician. The goals are different, the genres are different. However, there is some truth in Diana’s words, the element of “slurry”, as they say, is present here.

2000s also remembered for the diligent efforts of Dima Bilan and his entire team, headed by producer Yana Rudkovskaya, to win the main European music contest Eurovision. Bilan represented Russia at “ Eurovision ” 2 times – in 2006 and 2008. In 2008, the singer presented the composition Believe to the jury and the audience. Dima’s number was remembered by the performance of figure skater Evgeni Plushenko and Hungarian violinist Edwin Marton. The image of a jumping boy, an epic show created on stage, a life-affirming and motivating song helped the artist win the long-awaited victory for Russia. Bilan was at the peak of his popularity just in the 2000s, when plates from the main music award MUZ TV rained down on him like from a cornucopia, where the artist entered into a tough confrontation with Sergey Lazarev, who was gaining popularity.

Idols of adolescent girls towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century. became “Ranetki”. The group, which appeared in 2005, became popular only in 2008, when the TV series of the same name was released on television. “ Ranetki ” was remembered by sweet soulful songs about youthful love, explosive concerts and thousands of fans all over Russia. At that time, lyrical soulful music was performed by another famous performer – MakSim. It’s funny, but her song “Do you know?” is still the unofficial anthem of the fans of Spartak (FC), with all the tenderness of the composition.

Dima Bilan at Eurovision 2008 with Evgeni Plushenko and Edwin Marton

What was popular in the 2010s

In the 2010s, the spread of the Internet to the masses was unstoppable. Video bloggers, streamers, and other prominent representatives of the Internet space are beginning to appear. However, they will sing only towards the end of the decade. In the meantime, hip-hop, or rather rap, is becoming the most popular music. Even music that has retained its melodiousness begins to be diluted with borrowings from rap, recitative. Most of the songs are simplified to monotonous melodies with emphasis on catchy, “catchy” phrases. Music also acquires some craziness, it is also characteristic of the behavior of many performers (it is interesting that the role of this very behavior, personal life in general becomes more significant, almost more important than vocal and artistic abilities – popularity is earned not for the first time by the mentioned “hype” ). The madness manifests itself both in the lyrics and in the melodies. A vivid representative of such madness is Monetochka, who in songs is ready to “go homeless near the tracks”, if she were “paid every time” at the thought of him. Although one should not underestimate the work of this performer too much, her lyrics make a lot of sense (which is rather rare today), she sings about Syria and Ukraine, and, of course, where without pressing problems in relationships.

In the 2010s, it becomes popular to stoop in their texts to the lowest concepts and words, even hiding behind postirony, performers forget that some young people will not pass music through the prism of harsh critical thinking, but will only narrow their range of thought to the primary needs of homo sapiens.

Music group “ Ranetki ”

During these years, the attention of Russian youth is captured by new genres and performers from abroad. In the top of k-pop – South Korean music, first Gangnam Style (Gangnam Style) – a song by the artist Psy (Psy), which exists inextricably from the characteristic dance movements, then the BTS group. Foreign music is increasingly breaking into the charts, most young people today remember the Puerto Rican Despacito (Despazito), which thundered in 2017 and became the most listened to composition of the year.

Few of today’s youth know that rap existed in our Motherland back in the USSR. In 1984, the DJ of the Kanon student discotheque, Alexander Astrov, with the local group Rush Hour, recorded their short musical program and created the Rap album. The genre was further developed in the 2000s, rap music became the anthem of those dissatisfied with the economic and political crisis in the country. She also adopted the features of chanson – in the songs, texts of a criminal orientation sounded. The bright performers of the genre were Basta (aka Noganno), Casta, Smokey Mo, AK-47, the Center group (Slim, Ptaha and Guf – the one who “died”). In the 2010s the texts of rap artists have become even more multifaceted. Allusions to literary works and biblical motifs, more complex artistic images began to appear in them. By the end of the 2010s, youth idols in the direction of rap were LSP, Husky and Oxxxymiron (Oksimiron), who attracted the attention of a large audience thanks to the rap battles that were popular at that time. The highlight of 2017 was his battle with rapper Purulent (aka Slava CPSU). In addition, Oksimiron was called by many the “great poet” of our time.

In parallel with social rap, more trivial, club, and even pop rap developed, not carrying a global thought. It develops “factory” Timur Yunusov (Timati), Yegor Creed, as well as representatives of a new genre – hookah rap, where performers use their Caucasian accent and oriental melodies to create club, but at the same time “relaxed” music – Andro (Andro ), CYGO (Saigō), HammAli&Navai (Hammali and Navai), Jah Khalib (Jah Khalib), JONY (Joni), Scriptonite.

The 2010s were also remembered for the moderate, melodic popular music of Svetlana Loboda (who left the no less popular earlier group VIA GRA), Tima Belorussky, to which teenagers from Russia and Belarus (where he comes from), hits of the Silver group – especially “Any Mom” and a provocative video for the song, saving young people from unrequited love and depression with the songs of Max Korzh, as well as “Exhibit” and “Voyage” of Leningrad by Sergei Shnurov.

PSY performing Gangnam Style

2020, or the world has gone crazy

The new decade for Russian popular music began colorfully, as evidenced by the above-mentioned MUZ TV 2021 Award – a year ago it did not take place for obvious reasons, but even then, in 2020, new stars lit up bright enough to be recorded into the history of our native music, whether we like it or not.

Rap battle between Oksimiron and Purulent

The Internet appeared in our lives far from yesterday, over the years it has only become more firmly entrenched in it. This is especially true for those young people who have used the breakthrough achievement of mankind for most of their existence. Those who are 20 years old today use social services for half their lives. networks and no longer imagine how it is possible to exist without them, communicate, share impressions. With the usual Vkontakte and Instagram, the popular Tiktok service began to be used, and, of course, music took a special place in it. A high concentration of modern “pop” is located there.

The pandemic, natural disasters, vaccine diplomacy and, in general, 2020 have become a turning point for Tiktok. The app for teens dancing on camera has become the most popular place on Earth, albeit a virtual one. It harmoniously coexisted, as if in a hostel, teachers, porn models, metropolitan and provincial teenagers and grandmothers from the Russian hinterland. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has become another and even the main point of growth for Tiktok over the entire existence of the platform. By April 2020, the number of app downloads had crossed the two billion milestone.

Decorations for the performance of Dani Milokhin and Nikolai Baskov at the MUZ TV Prize 2021

In parallel with the development of Tiktok, the video hosting YouTube (YouTube) does not slow down the pace of gaining popularity, which allowed almost every Russian citizen (and people from all over the world) to express themselves. Through this platform, the Russians learned, for example, about the punk-rave band Little Big (Little Big), founded by blogger musician Ilya Prusikin and director Alina Pyazok. They first made themselves known on April 1, 2013 with the release of the music video “Every Day I’m Drinking” (“ Every day I drink ”) on YouTube. Released in 2018, the song “Skibidi” blew up the Internet and already in 2019 received platinum status. The video filmed for the song has become mega-viewed on YouTube, having collected more than half a billion views. This group was supposed to represent Russia at Eurovision 2020 with the song Uno, which collected more than 200 thousand views, but the same pandemic did not allow this controversial and extraordinary group to perform.

The now popular Morgenstern, Klava Koka, Slava Marlow (Slava Marlow), Valya Karnaval, Danya Milokhin also settled in Russian show business thanks to social networks. networks and YouTube. But the most frightening thing here is that, having left the environment of bloggers, they turned to musical creativity – which, of course, cannot be forbidden in itself. However, the trend0012 Those who sang go to tiktok, those who are on tiktok start singing “It’s a little scary, and here’s why. Despite the skepticism towards the classics among the majority of young people, it still trains the brain, forms a taste, develops the intellect (especially if you listen deliberately, with an analysis of the works), but simplified music both in melody and in texts stops the brain from developing. No one argues, all music is needed, but the transition of the line, the dominance of primitive musical content is a bell about the approach of the inevitable dead end of mankind.

The idol of the generation – Morgenstern

What is even more offensive, many artists, popular in the 2000s, began to change their usual musical directions in favor of “rocking”, “flying”, “vibe” music, with little content and even sometimes extremely stupid and vulgar. Philip Kirkorov and Nikolai Baskov are the main representatives of the survivors from the old stage, who replaced Cruel Love with the Barrel Organ with Ibiza, Wild Party, Rolex.

Dima Bilan, the pride of Russia-2008, went down the same road, who does not deviate from his colleagues, recording singles with tiktokers. Yegor Creed, who once represented the pretentious and aggressive label Black Star (Black Star), also turned his creative eye there, the founder of the Timati label himself did the same.

It’s scary to imagine what will happen to pop music in Russia in the future. Maybe this is just the conservative nonsense of the aging generations, the problem of fathers and children. However, it is hard to believe that the clip generation of tiktok is a passing stage both in the musical space and in everyday life, when in the current age of cataclysms the Internet is clamping us in a vise – both the youth, and the middle generation, and even the older one. Who knows what is in store for us tomorrow, if everything is cyclical – maybe obscene, cheeky and trivial will come to naught?

Ekaterina Tsareva

From the editor: as they sometimes say, “the opinion of the editors may not coincide with the opinion of the author”… ”, you can share your opinion with the readers of our newspaper by sending an email to the editors of Tomskaya NEDEL: [email protected]

Barretto | it’s.

.. What is Barretto?

Barretto, Ray

Ray Barretto New York, USA – February 17, 2006, Hackensack, New Jersey, USA) is an American percussionist (conguero) and composer of Puerto Rican origin, revered by many as the godfather of Latin American jazz. Grammy Award winner, the first musician in the history of the United States to record a Latin American song that was included in the Billboard hit parade.

Childhood and youth

Ray Barretto was born in the Brooklyn area of ​​New York to Puerto Rican parents. According to the rules of the Spanish language, his surname should have been written on the birth certificate as Barreto , but due to an error caused by the formal transmission of the sound of the surname using English spelling, the surname acquired a second “T”.

Ray’s parents moved from Puerto Rico to New York in the early 1920s in search of a better life. Barretto’s childhood was spent in the Latin American ghettos of Spanish Harlem and the Bronx. Influenced by his mother, Ray developed an early interest in music and fell in love with jazz musicians such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

In 1946, at the age of 17, Barretto was drafted into the army. Once serving on a base in Germany, Barretto met the Belgian vibraphonist Fats Sadi, who at that time worked in Orlando, a US Army jazz club. However, the last straw that influenced Ray Barretto’s decision to become a professional musician was the composition “Manteca” ( Manteca ) he heard, performed by Dizzy Gillespie’s orchestra with Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo on congas.

Early career

In 1949, when Barretto returned home from military service, he began visiting clubs, participating in jam sessions and perfecting his conga skills. The first orchestra in which he began to play on a regular basis was Eddie Bonnemere’s Latin Jazz Combo ( Eddie Bonnemere’s Latin Jazz Combo ). During one of these performances, Charlie Parker heard him and invited him to play in his ensemble.

Some time later, Barretto was invited to play in his orchestra by the pianist José Curbelo ( José Curbelo ). Collaboration with Curbelo lasted about four years, and then, in 1957, Ray Barretto joined Tito Puente’s orchestra, replacing Mongo Santamaria and taking part in the recording of Puente’s famous album “Dance Obsession” ( Dance Mania ). During his tenure with Tito Puente’s orchestra, which also lasted four years, Barretto developed his unique style of playing the congas, becoming one of New York’s most sought-after congueros and receiving many invitations from the leaders of the city’s leading jazz orchestras. He worked with jazz giants such as Max Roach, Charlie Parker, Art Blakey, Col Tjader, Dizzy Gillespie and others. A side effect of Barretto’s fame was the interest of American jazzmen in Latin American percussion, who began to use it as part of their ensembles.

Solo career

In 1960, Ray Barretto became a session musician for the Prestige, Blue Note and Riverside record labels. New York, which became the center of Latin American music in the United States, experienced a real charanga boom in those days. In the wake of this interest, in 1961 Orrin Keepnews ( Orrin Keepnews ) of the Riverside Company, who was familiar with Barretto’s previous work in jazz, suggested to Ray that he form his own charanga orchestra. Barretto took advantage of this offer and in the same year released the album “Pachanga with Barretto” ( Pachanga with Barretto ).

In 1962, a new record of jam sessions by the Ray Barretto Orchestra, Latino! ( Latino! ), on which Barretto was joined by tenor saxophonist José “Chombo” Silva and trumpeter Alejandro “El Negro” Vivar. The second album that Barretto released in 1962 was the CD “Modern Charanga” ( Charanga moderna ), which brought him great success. The disc became “gold”, and according to the results of 19For 63 years, the song “ El watusi ” from this album entered the top twenty songs of the United States, thus becoming the first Latin American composition to hit the top lines of the Billboard magazine hit parade.

Barretto’s next 8 albums, released from 1963 to 1966, were in different styles. All of them were commercially successful, but their contribution to the development of modern Latin American music was truly recognized and appreciated only years later.

In 1967, Ray Barretto signed with Fania Records and revolutionized the sound of his orchestra. The violins characteristic of the charanga were completely replaced by powerful brass ones, and the style of the music itself was shifted towards rhythm and blues. In the new composition of his orchestra, Ray recorded the album “Acid” ( Acid ). It is difficult to limit Barretto’s music to one style, but in general the sound of this disc is close to boogal. Despite the abrupt change in style, Barretto hit the bull’s-eye again: the album was received more than favorably by the audience.

Barretto’s next 9 albums, recorded at Fania from 1968 to 1975, were even more successful than the previous ones. In fact, the only unpleasant event in his musical career of that period was the departure at the end of 1972 from the orchestra of vocalist Adalberto Santiago (with whom Ray had worked since 1966) and four musicians ^[1] . However, the renewal of the orchestra did not have a significant impact on Barretto’s success. The 1975 album Barretto ( Barretto ), which Ray recorded in collaboration with vocalists Ruben Blades and Tito Gomez, became the musician’s best-selling disc of his entire career. The song “Guarare” ( Guarare ) from this disc immediately became a real hit, and the album itself was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1976. Latin N.J. Magazine ( Latin N. Y. Magazine ) Barretto was named the best conguero of 1975 and 1976. Not limited to Latin American music, as a conguero Barretto took part in the recording of discs by the Rolling Stones and Bee Gees.

Despite such impressive success, Ray Barretto felt tired of the exhausting daily performances in nightclubs. He believed that the format set by the club suppresses the desire to create and does not provide opportunities for experimentation. On the eve of the new, 19At 75 years old, he and his salsa band performed in public for the last time. Later, already under the name “Guarare”, they continued to work only in the studio, releasing three albums: “Guarare” (1977), “Guarare” (1979) and “Symbolic Wave” ( La onda típica , 1981).

In addition, from 1976 to 1978, Ray Barretto recorded three albums for Atlantic Records, including the song “La cuna” ( La cuna ), and was nominated for a Grammy for the disc “Tomorrow: Barretto Concert” ( Tomorrow: Barretto Live ). In 1979, on the Fania label, Barretto released the salsa CD “Rican/struction” ( Rican/struction ) ^[2] , which was named the best album of 1980 by Latin N.J.Maguesin magazine, and Barretto himself – the best conguero of the year.

The last years of his life

In 1990, Barretto finally received a Grammy for the album “Rhythm in the Heart” ( Ritmo en el corazón ), recorded together with Celia Cruz. In 1999, Ray Barretto was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame.

While living in New York, Barretto continued to be an active music producer and bandleader who toured the US, Europe, Israel and Latin America.

On February 17, 2006, Ray Barreto died at Hackensack University Hospital from heart failure and related complications. His body was flown to Puerto Rico, where the Puerto Rican Cultural Institute gave the musician his last honors, after which Ray Barretto’s body was cremated.

Discography

Solo albums

• Pachanga with Barretto (Riverside, 1962)
• Latino! (Riverside, 1962)
• Charanga moderna (Tico, 1962)
• On Fire Again (Encendido otra vez) (Tico, 1963)
• The Big Hits Latin Style (Tico, 1963)
• Moderna de Siempre (Tico, 1963)
• Guajira y guaguanco (Tico, 1964)
• Viva Viva Watusi! (Polydor, 1965)
• Señor 007 (United Artists, 1965)
• El Ray criollo (Polygram, 1966)
• Latino con Soul (Jazzland, 1967)
• Fiesta en el barrio (Polydor, 1967)
• Acid (Fania, 1967)
• Hard Hands (Fania, 1968)
• Together (Fania, 1969)
• Barretto Power (Fania, 1970)
• The Message (Fania, 1971)
• Que viva la musica (Fania, 1972)
• The Other Road (Fania, 1973)
• Indestructible (Fania, 1973)
• Barretto (Fania, 1975)
• Tomorrow: Barretto Live (Atlantic, 1976)
• Eye of the Beholder (Atlantic, 1977)
• Can You Feel It? (Atlantic, 1978)
• Rican/Struction (Fania, 1979)
• Giant Force (Fania, 1980)
• La cuna (CTI, 1981)
• Rhythm of Life (Fania, 1982)
• Todo se va poder (Fania, 1984)
• Aqua se puede (Fania, 1987)
• Irresistible (Fania, 1989)
• Handprints (Concord Picante, 1991)
• Soy Dichoso (Fania, 1992)
• My Summertime (Blue Note, 1995)
• Fuerza Gigante: Live in Puerto Rico April 27, 2001 (Universe, 2004)

• Barretto para bailar (Riverside, 1961)
• Cocinando suave (Riverside, 1962)
• La moderna & El watusi (Tico, 1962)
• Swing la moderna & Los cueros (Tico, 1964)
• Alma alegre (Jazzland, 1967)
• Soul Drummer (Fania, 1967)
• Carnaval (1972)
• Cocinando (Fania, 1972)
• Ray Barretto (T. H. Rodven, 1990)
• Live in New York (Messidor, 1992)

Compilations

• Head Sounds (Fania, 1970)
• From the Beginning (Fania, 1971)
• Energy to Burn (Fania, 1977)
• Gracias (Fania, 1979)
• Descarga criolla (Palladium, 1992)

With Guarare

• Guarare (1977)
• Guarare (1979)
• La onda tipica (1981)

With Celia Cruz

• Tremendo trio! (Fania, 1983)
• Ritmo en el corazón (Off-Beat, 1988)

With New World Spirit

• Ancestral Messages (Concord Picante, 1992)
• Taboo (Concord Picante, 1994)
• My Summertime (Owl, 1995)
• Contact! (Blue Note, 1997)
• Portraits in Jazz and Clave (RCA, 2000)
• Transcedance (Circular Moves, 2001)
• Homage to Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers (Sunnyside, 2003)
• Time Was – Time Is (O+ Music, 2005)

Notes

1. ↑ Subsequently, they formed a new team “Tipika 73”.