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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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