Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Ray Barretto was born on April 29, 1929 in New York City of Puerto Rican descent. Raised in Spanish Harlem he was influenced by his mother’s love of music and the jazz of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. At 17 he was in the Army, met Belgium vibist Fats Sadi and realized his true calling when hearing Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillespie play Manteca.

After his return in 1949 Barretto started joining in on jam sessions perfecting his conga style, played with Charlie Parker, Jose Curbelo and Tito Puente, with whom he would play for four years. He was soon sought by other jazz bandleaders and as a result of Ray’s musical influence, Latin percussionists started to appear in jazz groups.

By 1960, Barretto was a house musician for the Prestige, Blue Note, and Riverside labels. He also recorded on Columbia Records with jazz flautist Herbie Mann. New York had become the center of Latin music in the U.S. from which “pachanga” arose as the Latin music craze of the time. In 1961, Barretto recorded his first hit, “El Watusi” that became the first Latin song to enter the Billboard charts. He would go on to record 41 records as a leader, 11 with the groups Guarare and New World Spirit and seven as a sideman working with Dizzy Gillespie, Yusef Lateef, Herbie Mann, Celia Cruz, Red Garland and Kenny Burrell.

Ray became musical director of Fania All Stars, played with the Rolling Stones, and Bee Gees, was nominated for three Grammys, won one for Ritmo en el Corazon was crowned Conga Player of the Year in 1980 and inducted into the International Music Hall Of Fame. On February 17, 2006 conguero and percussionist Ray Barretto passed away from heart failure.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Herman Foster was born on April 26, 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began his musical career before age ten playing the violin, clarinet, saxophone, and piano. A self-taught pianist, Foster created a distinguished earthy sound. When his family moved to New York City in 1947, Herman began to attend jam sessions and then played with Eric Dixon, Dick Carter and the big band of Herb Jones.

His success came when he met Lou Donaldson and the two played together for thirteen years from 1953 to 1966. During the 1950s he worked with King Curtis, Bill English and Seldon Powell, in the 1960s with Al Casey, in addition to playing with his own trio over the next decade. He returned to work in Donaldson’s quartet in the 1980s.

He released four records as a leader for Epic, Argo and Timeless Records and as a sideman recorded nineteen albums with Lou Donaldson, Gloria Lynne, Johnny Hartman, Hisayo Tominaga, George V. Johnson Jr., Joan Shaw, Al Casey and King Curtis.

On April 3, 1999, bebop pianist Herman Foster passed away in New York City.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Joe Henderson was born on April 24, 1937 in Lima, Ohio and was encouraged by his parents to study music. Growing up he studied drums, piano, saxophone and composition, and listened to Lester Young, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Charlie Parker, Flip Phillips, Lee Konitz and Jazz at the Philharmonic recordings. While in high school he wrote several scores for the school band and rock groups.

Active on the Detroit jazz scene by eighteen, Henderson was playing jam sessions with visiting New York stars in the mid-50s. He attended Wayne State University studying sax, flute and bass, Joe played with fellow classmates Yusef Lateef, Barry Harris and Donald Byrd.

A two-year Army stint saw him touring worldwide entertaining troops and while in Paris met Kenny Drew and Kenny Clarke. After discharge he moved to New York, and soon joined Horace Silver’s band, providing the seminal solo on Song For My Father. Leaving Silver he freelanced and in 1966 co-led a big band with Dorham, whose arrangements went unrecorded until 1996 on the Joe Henderson Big Band.

Henderson appeared on nearly three-dozen albums as a leader and over 50 as a sideman during his career. He would join but never record with Miles Davis, move to Milestone Records, co-lead the Jazz Communicators with Freddie Hubbard, became more politically and socially conscious with his music, played with Blood, Sweat & Tears briefly and started teaching.

He would play with Echoes Of An Era, the Griffith Park Band, Chick Corea, but remained a leader experiencing a resurgence in 1986, record for An Evening with Joe Henderson for Red Records, get signed with Verve and enjoy critical success and popularity after releasing Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn.

On June 30, 2001, saxophonist Joe Henderson passed away of heart failure after a long battle with emphysema.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Candido was born Candido de Guerra Camero on April 22, 1921 in Havana, Cuba and learned to play percussion as a child listening to the music of his native land. Early in his career, Camero focused on conga and bongo, recording in his native Cuba with fellow jazz musician Machito. Although he has been credited as the first person to use the congas in jazz music, both Diego Iborra and Luciano “Chano” Pozo Gonzales preceded him in the 1940s.

Moving to New York in 1952 he started recording with Dizzy Gillespie and from 1953-54 he was in the Billy Taylor Quartet. The next year saw him performing and recording with Stan Kenton. During the Seventies Candido enjoyed success during the disco era, most notably with the Babatunde Olatunji-penned track “Jingo” from his Dancin’ and Prancin’ album on the Salsoul Record label, that has been acknowledged as  a precursor five years prior to the birth of the house music genre.

He has performed and recorded Errol Garner, Gene Ammons, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, Elvin Jones and Lionel Hampton on the short list of jazz luminaries. Percussionist Candido was honored with the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award in 2008. In 2014, Camero recorded his last album, The Master, also for Chesky.

He continued to perform in jazz clubs in New York until the late 2010s. AWhen he was 96 years of age he was residing in his home in Cuba. Candido, who played conga, bongo, tres and bass died on November 7, 2020, at his home in New York. He was 99.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Ian Carr was born on April 21, 1933 in Dumfries, Scotland. At the age of seventeen he started to teach himself trumpet and from 1952 to 1956 he attended King’s College. After graduation he joined his brother in a Newcastle band, the EmCee Five in 1960 before moving to London. From 1963-1969 he became co-leader with Don Rendell of the Rendell–Carr Quintet, recording five albums and touring internationally.

After leaving the quintet, Carr went on to form the groundbreaking jazz-rock band Nucleus that led to a successful international career, releasing twelve albums and winning first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival. He would go on to play with the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble in 1975.

Ian worked as a session musician in non-jazz contexts, doubled up on flugelhorn, wrote a regular column for the BBC Music Magazine, penned biographies of Keith Jarrett and Miles Davis, and co-authored The Rough Guide to Jazz. Carr held the position of associate at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he founded the jazz workshop that graduated pianist Julian Joseph.

Trumpeter Ian Carr died on February 25, 2009, having suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

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