Together (Remastered) Ray Barretto

• 1 Together 02:40
• 2 Adiviname y Olvídate 03:59
• 3 Hipocrecía y Falsedad 05:02
• 4 No Olvido a Caracas 03:53
• 5 De Donde Vengo 03:36
• 6 Vive y Vacila 03:55
• 7 Invitación al Son 06:20
• 8 Tin Tin Deo 08:26
• Total Runtime 37:51

Info for Together (Remastered)

"When you think of Ray Barretto, surely "Indestructible" or "Que Viva la Musica" are the first albums that come to mind. "Together" has been greatly overlooked as it has some great stuff from El rey de las manos duras. "Adiviname y Olvidate" "Invitacion al Son" are great tracks. "Tin Tin Deo" is more of a jazz tune with just awesome congas, which dominate the song very well. I say the song might of gone a bit long (8 mins.) but still a nice track if you're into a jazzy sound. "Vive y Vacila" has to be my pick for the standout track on this one album with its extremely catchy sound, great piano, good short conga solo, and Adalberto's powerful voice. Add great lyrics and you have the makings of hit. Like I said, greatly overlooked but an extremely good album by Barretto.

Adalberto Santiago, vocals
"Papy" Roman, trumpet
Roberto Rodriguez, trumpet
Louis Cruz, piano
Andy Gonzalez, bass
Tony Fuentes, bongos
Ray Barretto, congas
Orestes Vilato, timbales

Digitally remastered

The most widely recorded conguero in jazz, Ray Barretto grew up listening to the music of Puerto Rico and the swing bands of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Benny Goodman. Barretto credited Dizzy Gillespie's recording of "Manteca," featuring conguero Chano Pozo, with his decision to become a professional musician.

He first sat in on jam sessions at the Orlando, a G.I. jazz club in Munich. In 1949, after military service, he returned to Harlem and taught himself to play the drums, getting his first regular job with Eddie Bonnemere's Latin Jazz Combo. Barretto then played for four years with Cuban bandleader/pianist José Curbelo. In 1957, he replaced Mongo Santamaria in Tito Puente's band, with which he recorded his first album, Dance Mania. After four years with Puente, he was one of the most sought-after percussionists in New York,attending jam sessions with artists including Max Roach and Art Blakey and recording with Sonny Stitt, Lou Donaldson, Red Garland, Gene Ammons, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Freddie Hubbard, Cal Tjader, and Dizzy Gillespie. Barretto was so much in demand that in 1960 he was a house musician for the Prestige, Blue Note, and Riverside record labels.

Barretto's first job as a bandleader came in 1961, when Riverside producer Orrin Keepnews asked him to form a charanga for a recording, Pachanga With Barretto. His next album, Charanga Moderna, featured "El Watusi," which became the first Latin number to penetrate Billboard's Top-20 chart. In 1963, "El Watusi" went gold. In 1975 and 1976, Barretto earned back-to-back Grammy nominations for his albums Barretto (with the prize-winning hit "Guarere") and Barretto Live…Tomorrow. His 1979 album for Fania, Rican/Struction, considered a classic of salsa, was named Best Album (1980) by Latin N.Y. magazine, and Barretto was named Conga Player of the Year. He won a Grammy Award in 1990 for the song "Ritmo en el Corazon" with Celia Cruz.

Barretto was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 1999. He was voted Jazz Percussionist of 2004 by the Jazz Journalists Association and won the DownBeat critics' poll for percussion in 2005. His recording Time Was, Time Is was nominated for a 2005 Grammy Award.

This album contains no booklet.