In the late 70's I was playing in a punk band. At the time we were creating something of a buzz in New York. On our first visit to that great city a young Latino punk rocker approached me after a gig and asked me if I'd like to go with him to see the Fania Records show the next night at Madison Square Gardens. At that time my knowledge of Latin music was limited to my parents record collection but the idea of going to The Gardens was too good a chance to miss.
The following night I arrived at the show, expecting to have tickets to the show, only to be met by my new friend who was brandishing backstage passes and the works. That night changed my life. Standing by the side of the stage, being feted, as an oddity by New York's salsa community I watched the Fania All-Stars rip up a crowd of thousands.
The audience was dressed to kill and the night was electric. The biggest cheers of the occasion were for the remarkable conguero Ray Barretto who had made a remarkable recovery from a serious hand injury.
The eldest son of modest Puerto Rican emigrants he was born in New York on the 29th of April 1929. At the age of four, Ray's father abandoned the family to return to Puerto Rico, leaving his mother to bring up her two sons alone. Living in Brooklyn, his family scraping by on his mother's modest salary, at sixteen, Ray Barretto's behavior was already bordering on delinquency.
In 1946 he joined the army and was sent to Germany, an experience that gave him his first hands-on experience with racial segregation. As a result he sought out the company of his black comrades and spent most of his evenings in a local jazz club. It was there that he was first turned on to bebop and discovered the Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillespie combo that changed his life.
When he returned to New York, Barretto became a regular at many jazz clubs including the Bucket Of Blood, Small's Paradise and Minton's and sat in with Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach and Charlie Parker.
In 1957 he replaced Mongo Santamaria in Tito Puente's big band and one year later recorded some dates with pianist Red Garland for the Prestige label. He later became the percussionist of choice for a number of jazz artist including Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Jack McDuff, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Kenny Burrell and Lou Donaldson on the Riverside, Prestige, Blue Note and Verve labels.
Before long he was cutting his own records (notably Pachanga, Desgarga Criolia, Carnaval).
An exponent of free jazz, he released his first truly successful album, El Watusi, whose sales broke all records in the Latino market.
In 1962 he formed the Ray Barretto Orchestra - a seven piece charanga band - and would perform and record a number of Latin-dance oriented albums for the next two decades, mostly with the Fania label, before returning to jazz full time with the formation of New World Spirit.
The songs on this album are taken from his Fania recordings over a period of twenty-five years. There are many people out there who lay claim to being the originators of salsa but if you're looking for the real flava you have to go to the source, Ray Barretto, and hear for yourself - the man is hot!
