Search - Ray Barretto :: Standards Rican-Ditioned

"Undeniably one of the world's greatest percussionists. An American jazz legend. A latin music classic. A driving force in that New York Puerto Rican musical hurricane." - MIAMI HERALD "[Straddling] the worlds of jazz and Latin music in a career that spanned almost six decades ... Barretto was known for his fearless experimentation with Latin, jazz, and rhythm and blues, and for helping popularize salsa music." - NPR.org "Barretto has spent over four decades refining the integration of Afro-Caribbean rhythms with the improvisational elements of jazz. Few artists have been as successful over the years at fusing these two genres as Barretto, an undisputed master." - DRUMMER WORLD Standards Rican-ditioned is the last recording of legendary Puerto Rican percussionist Ray Barretto, who passed away unexpectedly on February 17, 2006. Barretto recorded Standards with an all-star ensemble of top Puerto Rican musicians in December 2005 in a fifties Blue Note-style straight-ahead blowing session, playing classic jazz standards. The band Barretto assembled for this recording features Hilton Ruiz on piano, David Sanchez on tenor sax, Papo Vazquez on trombone, John Benitez on bass, Adam Cruz on drums, and the reecording debut of Barretto's twenty-year-old son Chris Barretto on alto sax. This session was also one of the last by legendary pianist Hilton Ruiz, who passed away in June from injuries he received in an accident during a visit to New Orleans. Ray Barretto completed and approved the mixes for all but the last track, "Strange Music." Chris Barretto plays conga on this tune, and oversaw the final mixing and mastering of the recording. Standards Rican-ditioned stands as the last milestone in Ray Barretto's rich five-decade recording career, covering Latin jazz, straight-ahead jazz, and salsa in a unique Puerto Rican all-star format.