Desde la Bahía - breves notas musicales - TT: From the Bay Area - TA: brief music notes - Columna

Latin Beat Magazine, Sept, 2000 by Jesse "Chuy" Varela

¡BARRETTO! The audience clapped for conguero Ray Barretto as he walked out onto the stage alone in July, at Yoshi's Jazz House in Oakland, California. As members of his group New World Spirit staggered on the stand, he pulled up a mike and said he would do standup comedy while "waiting for the underpinning members of the crew." The guilty stragglers looked sheepishly at Ray, who quickly counted off Thelonius Monk's I Mean You.

Known for impeccable swing and a hard-hitting conga style, Barretto is one of Latin music's most distinguished bandleaders. From salsa to Latin jazz, he has graced stages around the world and worked with a "who's who" in both worlds, including guitarist Kenny Burrell, his special guest for this week-long stint. As a native New Yorker, it was the Cubop sounds of Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillespie that inspired Barretto to play in the late 1940s.

The first two pieces showcased New World Spirit, a tight quintet with John DiMartino (piano), Greg August (bass), Vince Cherico (traps), Adam Kolker (tenor sax) and John Bailey (trumpet). They quickly warmed up the comfortably packed house with superb ensemble playing and improvised solos. DiMartino was particularly impressive on the Monk tune with a touch comparable to the melodically challenging finesse of Kenny Barron.

It was followed by an upbeat rendition of the Cannonball Adderley classic Work Song which presented a great case for the interrelated jazz-Latin continuum in the grafting between what the late Mario Bauzá called "branches of the same tree." As borders blurred, the gates opened to an inspiring and enjoyable evening with one of the modernists of the conga drum. With the passing of Tito Puente and the retirement of Mongo Santamaría, when it comes to New York City-flavored Latin jazz, Ray's the man!

With eyes closed, his hands flew over four wooden drums searching for tonally hip head sounds. It wasn't slap happy stuff but textural colors played with virtuostic wrist motions and muffles. Delivered with Barretto passion, the audience ate it up as he pushed the band to greater musical heights. New World Spirit was in the pocket and grooving nicely. With the audience loosening up, it just kept getting better as jazz legend Kenny Burrell strapped on his sunburst Gibson L7 hollow-bodied guitar.

The association between Burrell and Barretto goes back to the 1960s and Kenny's Blue Note recording of Out of this World. As Kenny's star rose, he included Ray on several now-classic recordings (Midnight Blue), as well as collaborations with Coleman Hawkins and Jack McDuff. As recording and performing sidemen, they have done countless dates side-by-side with luminaries in jazz and pop music.

Deep-felt admiration permeated as Barretto introduced Kenny and commended him for his "vibe and spirit." With generous applause, Burrell quickly swung into action with Ray's group on Billy Strayhorn's Johnny Come Lately. As his trademark pearl-shaped notes resonated around the room, it was a pleasure to hear his improvised melodies and seasoned maturity with a horn-like articulation inspired long ago by electric guitar pioneer Charlie Christian.

Barretto and Burrell generated a bebop groove with a gospel jubilance that pushed the ensemble. Burrell fueled the tire with a masterful solo that inspired DiMartino, who followed with engaging choruses filled with interplay and dynamics. Trading fours, it made for an exciting crescendo to a piece that left Ray and Kenny smiling ear to ear.

Perdido followed, and at this point the audience was buzzing and heads were boppin'. The sound planets were in sync and provided a nice warm balance that allowed for clarity and subtlety to be heard. After a ten-minute-plus rendering, Ray and the horns left the stage to Kenny Burrell, who offered a caressing rendition of his composition Listen To The Dawn, a tune he wrote for the Harlem Boys Choir.

At 71 years old, Ray still plays with great strength. I don't know if the grimaces he made throughout the 90-minute plus show were of passion or pain, but he and Burrell, (who isn't far behind at 69 years of age), were agile and clear-thinking. Last year, Kenny recorded on Barretto's album Portraits in Jazz and Clave (RCA-BMG) and it's helped put them back on the road. They ended the night with an uptempo blues that left Barretto singing and scatting, Kenny grooving out, and the audience with a pleasurable musical memory of two jazz giants.

DR.WAYNE: Since the release of his Three in One debut album earlier this year for Spirit Nectar Records, San Francisco native Wayne Wallace is whipping up a strong national reputation as a Latin jazz trombonist, arranger and composer. In addition to functioning as co-musical director for John Santos & The Machete Ensemble and the Pete Escovedo Orchestra, Wayne has contributed his musical ideas to help many groups hone their sound, while adding his horn to many big bands, jazz combos, musicals and Bay Area 1970s Latin rock and funk bands like Sapo and Summers Heat. But now his star is rising as a leader, bringing him long overdue attention and helping him carve a solo career. He's also coming into his own as an educator, as a contributor to the jazz studies program that department head Dee Spencer is building at San Francisco State with alto sax legend John Handy. In early August, his album finally cracked the coveted Gavin Jazz Radio Chart and he decided to celebrate with a record release party at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley.