JANUARY 13 @ IAJE ANNUAL JAZZ CONFERENCE, NYC (Hilton Hotel, Ave of Americas)
Barretto accepts the NEA (National Endowment of Arts) Jazz Master, the highest honor the US government awards a jazz artist. The award includes a $25,000 arts grant. ****Barretto will perform in concert to follow at 8PM.
BARRETTO'S CD NOMINATED FOR GRAMMY AWARD
FEBRUARY 8 (LIVE!)
Barretto's new CD Time Was, Time Is" was nominated as BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM. Please tune in to the nationally televised program at 8PM !
For nearly 40 years, conguero and bandleader RAY BARRETTO has been one of the most influential musicians performing jazz with a Latin flair -- jazz latin" he calls it. His hard, compelling bebop style is classic jazz, yet he dresses it up with strong Latin and African rhythms.
The first U.S.-born percussionist to integrate the African-based conga drum into jazz, Barretto was one of the early crossover" artists in the genre and has graced the recordings of saxophonists Gene Ammons, Lou Donaldson, and Sonny Stitt, and guitarists Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell.
On his new CD, Time Was - Time Is (O+/ distributed by Harmonia Mundi -September 13), Barretto takes jazz back to its Afro-Caribbean roots while reflecting on how his past has brought him to where he is musically today.
The jazz legend will forever be remembered as one of the musical pioneers who helped fuse jazz and Latin music. --NEW YORK POST
...the record is a philosophical reflection on where Latin jazz has been and where it has evolved to through Barretto's memories of his life story...a master of both jazz and Latin idioms. --NEWSDAY
For more information contact All About Jazz.