There is a reason why Tito Puente is, often, referred to as “El Rey” [The King]. Notice how that epithet stops short of defining the boundaries of his musical kingdom, which one might – in a rather restrictive way – speculate is Latin American Music, or as we now say: “Afro-Cuban” or “Afro-Caribbean” Music. Truth be told, his kingdom is music, one where he ruled with the greatest of creators in the art of contemporary music.  

Mr Puente’s rule emanated out of El Barrio – Spanish Harlem – in New York City and began in earnest in the 1950s with a dynamism of his rhythms and stage presence that set dance halls aflame. Some of those were captured on record by RCA Victor [now merged into Sony Music Latin]. Arguably some of the best of these were Cuban Carnival [1956], Night Beat [1957] and Dance Mania [1958]. Those were halcyon days and the heady music – some may suggest – lost its sting in the 1960s with the advent of discotheque, strobe lights and a monotonous musical rhythm beat that many might characterize as hypnotic.

In 1974 Mr Puente recorded an album – Revolving Bandstand – the wisdom of which had many critics scratching their heads. On this album – which featured his orchestra playing alongside that of Buddy Morrow’s Orchestra – El Rey attempted to play popular standards with a view to facilitating a collision of sorts between his Afro-Cuban music and the kind of dance music made popular by big bands playing what was characterized as “swing”, [which was] in fact a pale imitation of the kind of genuine bluesy swing of the great dance bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and others. The verdict, at that time and after, was: The reign of El Rey was over.

But then in 1985 when all seemed lost [to every naysayer but El Rey himself] the great composer and percussionist extracted his brand of musical justice with Mambo Diablo, an album with his iconic Latin Ensemble – once again playing popular jazz standards including the great charts: Take Five by Paul Desmond and made world famous by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Lush Life by the incomparable Billy Strayhorn and Lullaby of Birdland, by the legendary English composer George Shearing, featuring Mr Shearing on piano. The album not only served notice that El Rey had never abdicated his throne, but with this repertoire he introduced himself and that mesmerising Afro-Cuban dance form – Mambo – to a legion of new fans.

Side A of the album gets off to a flying start with the title song, one of Mr Puente’s most iconic compositions. The chart showcases Mr Puente’s vibraphone chops. Not for him an empty display of pyrotechnics or sentimental indulgence. Mambo Diablo is rigorous and driven by architectural activity. While Mr Puente may have arranged and directed the music here, the stars in his orchestra – pianist Sonny Bravo, conguero José Madera, bongosero Johnny “Dandy” Rodriguez and bassist Bobby Rodriguez – shine bright. But none brighter than the inimitable saxophonist Mario Rivera, whose playing sets alight this and every other chart that follows.

On Lush Life Mr Puente “tricks” listeners into thinking he’s going to turn Lush Life, Mr Strayhorn’s highly emotional piece into a mushy bolero, only to rock the cha-cha rhythm in the second half of the piece. Side B brings the listener an embarrassment of riches beginning with Lullaby of Birdland, a song that flows like liquid gold in a simmering river of fire. And like the songs that begin with a deceptively slow, meditative – often faux-predictable manner – Mr Puente soon injects his unique brand of rhythmic dynamism into each work provoking a volta face and forcing the heavyweight performers in his Latin Ensemble into a tumbling rhythmic groove. This is the mood throughout the album. It’s no wonder that the elegant and effervescent music of Mambo Diablo not only holds up today but sings sweetly as its mambo [and other] rhythms take us on a rollicking ride of our collective lifetime even today, decades after its original release – and why the reign of El Rey may not be ending any time soon.

TRACKLIST

SIDE A

1. Mambo Diablo
2. Take Five
3. Lush Life
4. Pick Yourself Up

SIDE B

1. Lullaby of Birdland
2. No Pienses Así
3. China
4. Eastern Joy Dance

CREDITS

Tito Puente – timbales, vibraphone and percussion
Sonny Bravo – piano
Jimmy Frisaura – valve trombone, trumpet and flugelhorn
Ray González – trumpet and flugelhorn
José Madera – congas and percussion
Mario Rivera – tenor and soprano saxophones and flute
Bobby Rodríguez – bass
Johnny “Dandy” Rodríguez – bongos and percussion

SPECIAL GUEST

George Shearing – piano on Lullaby of Birdland.

Released – 1985/2023
Label – Concord Picante / Craft Recordings
Runtime – Side A: 21:16 / Side B: 19:15

One month before his death, Ray Barretto was the recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, the highest honor that our nation bestows on jazz artists. Despite that, he is mainly remembered as a percussionist, bandleader, and Salsa trailblazer.

As Barretto’s biographer, Robert Téllez, points out, “To examine Ray Barretto’s musical origins, it is necessary to refer to jazz rather than Latin music. That is one of the main differences between his career and other notable Latin percussionists. Most of them started in Afro-Caribbean music and turned to jazz, but in Barretto’s case, it was the opposite.”

Various factors laid the groundwork for Barretto’s passion for jazz. In a 2003 interview with Latin Beat magazine, Barretto was asked, “What type of music did you listen to on the radio (as a child)?” “It was mostly jazz and the era’s popular music,” replied Barretto, “but mostly jazz music.” He cites the big band sounds of Harry James, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington as “part of his everyday life.” In addition, he listened to Daniel Santos, Bobby Capó, Trío Los Panchos, Frank ‘Machito’ Grillo and his Afro-Cubans, Marcelino Guerra, and Arsenio Rodríguez, among others.

According to Robert Farris Thompson, “While serving in the US Army in 1952, Barretto happened to hear a record by (Dizzy Gillespie) and Chano Pozo, perhaps the most important Black Cuban drummer of the century.” That, says Ray Barretto, “turned my life around.” After that, he never looked back. When Barretto returned home, he visited 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.

In 1960, Barretto became a house musician for the Prestige Records, Riverside and Blue Note labels and appeared on albums with Gene Ammons, Red Garland and Sonny Stitt among many others, including Lou Donaldson, Kenny Burrell, Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, Jimmy Forrest, Yusef Lateef, Eddie Harris, Johnny Lytle, Herbie Mann, Johnny ‘Hammond’ Smit, Art Farmer, and Clifford Jordan.

As these things go, Barretto’s name got around, and he was offered Latin gigs, and the rest is history. His success as a Latin percussionist, bandleader, and member of the Fania All-Stars is well-documented. Between 1961 and 1973, Barretto released twenty recordings as a leader, including Charanga Moderna, Acid, Hard Hands, The Message, and Que Viva La Música, among others.

In 1973, an unanticipated turn of events created an opportunity for Barretto to take The Other Road. As the story goes, “In 1973, about half of my band left to form Típica ’73, and once again, I had to readjust and reconstruct my band. It took me about a year to get the band in form and working again. But in the meantime, I convinced Jerry Massuci (the head of Fania Records) to let me record a jazz project, and one night, from midnight to 6 AM (at Good Vibrations Sound Studios, 1440 Broadway, NYC) we recorded the album, The Other Road.”

_{YouTube Playlist – Ray Barretto: The Other Road}

This brings me to the players, who Barretto describes in the liner notes as “young disciples from various mother countries wanting to be heard.” Trumpeters Roberto Rodríguez, Joseph Román and Manny Durán, pianist Edy Martínez, bassist Guillermo Edghill, timbal player Ray Romero, bongo player Tony Fuentes, flutist Art (Artie) Webb, and drummer Billy Cobham. All of whom rise to the occasion!

The repertoire consists of Thelonious Monk’s Round Midnight (aka Round About Midnight), Edy Martínez’s The Other Road, Manny Duran’s Lucretia the Cat and Oración (The Prayer), Ray Barretto’s Little Ting and a remake of Abidjan (which initially appeared on the album, Hard Hands) titled Abidjan Revisited. It is worth noting the title track was composed by Edy Martínez, who composed the song for his sister, who tragically died in a car accident. The original LP features photos of the sessions, but there are no specific details about the session.

When The Other Road was released in 1973, it was a commercial failure for several reasons. Jerry Masucci (Fania) had no interest in jazz, as demonstrated by his admonishing Barretto for making that album and ordering him never to make a jazz album again. Also, Barretto’s Salsa fan base rejected it. Some went so far as to claim it wasn’t Ray Barretto! 

The same year Barretto came roaring back with Indestructible, which is widely considered a classic and one of the most potent Salsa albums of all time. In 1990, dissatisfied with how Salsa was evolving, Barretto recorded Soy Dichoso, his farewell salsa album. Shortly after, he announced the formation of the jazz ensemble New World Spirit, which combined Jazz and Latin music, the two worlds he loved. Barretto led New World Spirit from 1992 until he died in 2006.

_{YouTube Video – Ray Barretto’s New World Spirit: United}

In 2016, the Colombian journalist, radio show host, and producer Robert Téllez released the first and only Ray Barretto biography titled Ray Barretto Giant Force. Téllez does an admirable job of documenting Barretto’s career and discography, but an in-depth book about Ray Barretto, the son, brother, husband, father, colleague, mentor, intellectual, activist, poet, and renaissance man, has yet to be written.

Musicologist, editor and lecturer Max Salazar on Ray Barretto: “Barretto was the most intelligent musician, bandleader I ever encountered. He was like a sponge, always absorbing everything around him. He could have been anything that he wanted to be: A doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, but he opted to be a musician. Barretto’s music was always groundbreaking, whether he was playing jazz or Latin music. He was a true giant of our music.”

REFERENCES

• Barretto, Ray – The Other Road Liner Notes
• Ray Barretto – Latin Beat Magazine (April, 2006)
• Ray Barretto – Living By the Beat of the Drum (Latin Beat magazine, May 2003)
• Téllez, Robert – Ray Barretto Giant Force (English Edition, 2021)
• Thompson, Robert Farris – Aesthetic of the Cool – Afro-Atlantic Art and Music (Periscope Publishing, Ltd, 2011)
• YouTube – Ray Barretto Band Live (Zycopolis Productions)

This album, Telecommunications, is one of the most iconic recordings by Azymuth, the ineffably funky Brasilian trio. When it was released – on the Milestone label in 1982 – it became a monumental hit, propelling the group, it went Gold and exploded into the Top 10 in the British Charts, soaring heavenward in popularity all over Europe too.

It’s not hard to understand the extraordinary popularity of Azymuth. First and foremost has to be the unmatched funkiness of all the musicians who made up the original trio: keyboards superstar, vocalist and percussionist José Roberto Bertrami, who sadly passed away on July 8th 1012, Ivan Mamão Conti, who just has to be considered one of the most funky drummers since Zigaboo Modeliste, [who practically invented funk drumming as one of the illustrious members of the iconic New Orleans group The Meters], and bassist Alex Malherios whose rumble and roar made for the glue [together with Mamão] that solidified the rhythmic edifice of the trio, while the soloist [particularly, Bertrami] launched himself on his mighty solo flights.

It may have been the syncopation of choro that carried over into Brasili’s most iconic urban music and dance forms – samba, a versatile rhythm that can assume many forms. Heated up, with a shouted call-and-response verse backed by literally thousands of samba-school drums on parade, it becomes samba de enredo [the mass Carnival music that is famous the world over]. But what happens when you take the vocals out of the musical equation, funk up the rhythm, add a rumbling electric bass guitar and jazz up the rippling Brasilian percussion?

That’s when you get the funkiest music that became the clarion call of Brasilian funk music ensembles, of which Azymuth was probably the most famous, plying its stock-in-trade at all the major jazz festivals – from the Americas to Europe – Monterey to Montreux and way beyond.  The music on this seminal album, Telecommunications is characteristic of Azymuth at its very best. The repertoire came at a time when this heavyweight trio had reached the apogee of the musical style that continues to be a niche. A style that it had carved out for itself, with an eclectic, jazzy mix of Brasilian rhythms upon which were overlaid dallying soli by Mr Bertrami and Mamão, together with the rumbling bass of Mr Malherios.

Telecommunications’ opener “Estreito de Taruma” features a filing solo by the great Brasilian guitarist Helio Delmirio. The warm sonority, clean technique and penchant for spare ornamentation in his playing made him a guitarist like none other to come out of the raging flood of guitarists that cascaded out of the ocean of Brasilian music. The music that Mr Delmirio sculpted, from the steel strings at his fingertips, made the musical notes fly off the paper. His lines floated askance, oblique to the not so predictable keyboard playing by Mr Bertrami.

Throughout the two sides of this vinyl –superbly remastered by George Horn, by the way– we find music that is a testament to the musicians’ [and composers’] boundless invention. This music is replete with a wide expressive range and technical challenges, not to mention the fact that once all of the musicians have had their say, a musical structure is constructed that defies logic, convention and other well-worn stylistic hooks. So monumental is the music’s cachet. Mr Bertrami’s “Last Summer in Rio” and the wistful finale – “The House I Lived In” [together with its “Prelude” – as a finale, no less] is typical of the brooding, tumbling groove that Azymuth created for itself – a sound so unique among [any] other musicians from the 1970’s onward, is yet to be imitated, copied or otherwise reproduced by Brasilian artists other than Azymuth.

YouTube Playlist

Tracks – Side A – 1: Estreito de Taruma; 2: What Price Samba [Quanta Vale um Samba]; 3: Country Road [Chão de Terra]; 4: May I Have This Dance? [Concede me Esto Dança?]. Side B – 1: Nothing Will Be As It Was [Nada Sera Como Antes]; 2: Last Summer in Rio; 3: The House I Lived In [A Casa em Que Vivi]; Prelude

Musicians – José Roberto Bertrami: organ [Side A 1, 4; Side B 1-3], keyboards [Side A 2, 4; Side B 1, 2], vocoder [Side A 3, 4], vocal [Side A 2] and percussion [Side A 1, 4; Side B 1]; Alex Malherios: electric bass [Side A 1, 4; Side B 2], fretless bass [Side A 2, 3; Side B 2]; bass guitar [Side A 4], and acoustic guitar [Side A 3]; Ivan Mamão Conti: drums [Side A 1, 2, 4; Side B 1, 2] and percussion [Side A 1, 3]; Special Guests – Helio Delmirio:  electric guitar [Aide A 1; Side B 2]; Aleuda: percussion [Side A 3, 4; Side B 1]; Dotô: repique [Side A 2]; Cidinho: percussion [Side B 2]

Released – 1982
Remastered and Released (vinyl) – 2022
Label – Milestone [1982]
Jazz Dispensary – [2022]
Runtime – Side A 19:21 Side B 21:43