A Man And His Music Que Viva La Musica [Remastered Compilation] [Original recording remastered]

Ray Barretto | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 23, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Fania
• ASIN: B000FBHCRS
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,906 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. El Watusi

2. El Bantu

3. 007

4. Do You Dig It

5. Soul Drummers

6. Hard Hands

7. Together

8. Right On

9. Acid

10. Abidjan

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Que Viva la Musica

2. La Petola

3. Indestructible

4. El Hijo de Obatalá

5. Guarare

6. Vale Mas un Guaguanco

7. Ya Vez

8. Tu Propio Dolor

9. Fuerza Gigante

10. Rhythm of Life

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

RAY BARRETTO

Making the transition from the ghettos of New York Latin barrios to the heights of the music world requires enormous character. Such is the case of Ray Barretto. Never straying from his roots, he was a great admirer of swing, jam, jazz, and the genres' most noted figures, such as Dizzy Gillespie. He made these genres his own, standing out as a great vocalist. His career took on a new dimension in 1967, when he replaced Mongo Santamaría in the Tito Puente Orchestra, with whom he recorded his first album, "Dance Mania." The album's success would set the stage for his future professional career. Between 1968 and 1975, Barretto recorded a total of nine albums on the Fania label, a label which he helped to create. He was a sensitive artist, open to all musical currents and manifestations, which allowed him to experiment with the many different rhythms he infused with his unique style. The musical legacy of Ray Barretto included a Best Latin Album Grammy in 1989 for "Ritmo en el corazón," which he recorded with Celia Cruz. In 1990, he took a seat of honor in the Salon de Fama for International Latin Music. He was also honored with the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award. These were the most prestigious of the many awards he won over the course of his career. With his death, his life may have ended, but his star shines on more brightly than ever in the musical heavens.

RAY BARRETTO

Del "ghetto" de los barrios latinos de la ciudad de Nueva York, a monopolizar un nombre famoso entre los grandes de la música requiere haber recorrido un largo camino. Este es el caso de Ray Barretto. Sin apartarse de sus raíces de origen, fue un gran admirador del "swing", "jam" y "jazz", y de sus más connotadas figuras como Dizzy Gillespie. Géneros que también hizo suyos destacándose como un excelente intérprete. Su carrera adquiere otra dimensión cuando en 1967, reemplaza a Mongo Santamaría en la orquesta del Maestro Tito Puente, con quien grabó su primer álbum "Dance Mania". El éxito que alcanzó esta producción, pautaría lo que sería su futura carrera profesional. Entre los años 1968 y 1975, Barretto grabó un total de nueve álbumes para el sello Fania del que fuera uno de sus miembros fundadores. Fue un artista sensible y abierto a todas las corrientes y manifestaciones musicales, lo que le permitió incursionar en los más variados ritmos a los que le imprimió su personalísimo sello. El legado musical de Ray Barretto incluye un premio Grammy en la categoría de "Música Latina Tropical" en 1989 por su producción, "Ritmo en el Corazón" que grabara con Celia Cruz. En 1990 pasó a ocupar un sitio de honor en el "Salón de la Fama de la Música Latina Internacional", y también, fue galardonado con el premio "Jazz Masters del National Endowment for the Arts". Ultimos reconocimientos de los tantos recibidos en su trayectoria profesional. Con su fallecimiento se apaga su vida, pero su estrella brilla en el firmamento musical con más intensidad que nunca.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Emusica off to a Latin start with Fania catalog, January 23, 2007

By 

catsmiau "catsmiau" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Man And His Music Que Viva La Musica [Remastered Compilation] (Audio CD)

Fania's catalog has been so mismanaged nay just plain neglected over the past 30 years (i once bought a copy of a willie colon lavoe cd - te mato- and it sounded like total distortion ... there had clearly been a problem with it and yet there it was) I have high hopes that things will improve now that Emusica bought the catalog but this Barretto compilation gives me some cause for concern. I do not understand the philosophy behind this compilation... it seems fania just wanted to include 1 or 2 tracks from each album with no concer for what they were including... Why would you include the same number of tracks (and shorter as they were done earlier) from seminal albums such as Acid, Together and Hard Hands as you would from Barretto's latter day efforts which had nowhere the impact and to these ears sound like more standard fare salsa. In fact the first cd is the one with the different rhythms etc... but they neglected some incredible stuff including some tracks he recorded with fania all stars which he wrote and should have been part of this compilation (i'm thinking of some tracks from the live at the red garter cds).. meanwhile the second cd is mainly post 72 Barretto and most tracks sound fairly similar...It just does not pack the same punch... Since CD1 has 15 minutes empty space and CD2 has another 15 or so they could have easily included more from early era Barretto... The liner notes are pretty shoddy affair with for example in the english notes riverside records honcho orrin keepnews (who anybody that knows anything about music knows who he is) is mispelled orrin keepnuevo as if they did a spellcheck in spanish or something and replaced "news" with "nuevo"...lame...barretto deserves a 100% treatment.. the notes tell us what album the songs come from but provide no dates, session players or anything else!!! the session players deserve better!... silly.. this is the typical mishandling of art by people who traditionally own latin music catalogs.. if they really want to do for fania what blue note did with its back catalog, which is what they've claimed, they got a long way to go.... also, there is no explanation of what happened when barretto's musicians left him around 72 to form their own group Tipica 73.. I give this four stars because the music is just great (although in my opinion too much 70s stantard salsa) and not enough early bugalu etc from the 60s... in fairness i should also say the sound is pretty good with two notable exceptions which are tracks 6 and 10 both coincidentally (not!) from "hard hands" which sound shoddy and buzz.. clearly an inferior source was used for these as they do not sound at all as good as the rest.. they should have just used a mint lp which they could have found on ebay for a bill... as mentioned the song selection is questionable and the liner notes leave a lot to be desired..it just seems like an opportunity was wasted to give barretto the 100% class act compilation he deserves... final quibble: to call this comp "a man and his music" is probably not the right way to go because barretto was very much about jazz too which is not represented here...

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE LATE GREAT RAY BARRETTO, January 6, 2007

By 

COMPUTERJAZZMAN "computerjazzman" (Cliffside Park, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Man And His Music Que Viva La Musica [Remastered Compilation] (Audio CD)

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GO OUT AND BUY ALL OF RAY BARRETTO'S ALBUMS, THEN BUY THIS ONE. IT IS A GREAT COMPILATION OF HIS MUSIC FROM THE FANIA AND TICO LABELS. I GUARANTEE YOU WILL LOVE THIS CD!!!!!! LONG LIVE RAY BARETTO!!! SOME OF IT MAY SOUND A BIT DATED (60'S AND 70'S), BUT IT IS GREAT MUSIC NEVERTHELESS.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb tribute to an all-time Salsa legend., August 7, 2006

By 

Justo Roteta (Los Angeles, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Man And His Music Que Viva La Musica [Remastered Compilation] (Audio CD)

The late great Ray Barretto's recordings for the Tico and Fania labels represent an extremely important chapter in the history of Salsa and this compilation offers a fine (if incomplete) overview of his illustrious career. Hopefully, Emusica Records (Fania's new owner) will reissue all of Ray's Tico and Fania CDs. Most of his major hits and trademark tunes are here and no self-serving Barretto fan should be without this great compilation.