Ray Barretto - Latino! [Spain Import]

Latino! is Ray Barretto turning the studio into a Latin jam session, a 1962 Riverside date that bottles the loose, fiery spirit of the descarga, presented here as a Spanish import.

Before he became a pillar of New York salsa and a long-serving member of the Fania All-Stars, Barretto was the conguero of choice on countless jazz sessions. Here, on one of his earliest outings as a leader, he gathered a crew steeped in Cuban tradition, including José "Chombo" Silva on tenor sax, Alejandro "El Negro" Vivar on trumpet, José Canoura on flute and Willie Rodríguez on percussion.

The set mixes standards and originals with ease. "Manha De Carnaval" slips the Black Orpheus theme into a swaying Latin frame, "Summertime" gets a fresh rhythmic coat, and Barretto's own "Cocinando Suave" simmers with interlocking percussion and long, unhurried solos. "El Negro y Ray" spotlights the trumpet against his insistent congas.

This edition also carries one bonus cut from a 1961 session led by saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, with Barretto driving the Latin percussion behind a full brass section.

It is a vivid document of the years when Latin rhythm and jazz improvisation traded ideas freely in New York, and an excellent place to start with Barretto's early work.