Ray Barretto - Together (2021) [Hi-Res]

While Ray Barretto's congas have graced more recording sessions than virtually any other conguero of his time, he has also led some refreshingly progressive Latin jazz bands over the decades. His records often have a more tense, more adventurously eclectic edge than those of most conventional salsa groups, unafraid to use electronics and novel instrumental or structural combinations, driven hard by his rocksteady, endlessly flexible percussion work. This no doubt reflects Barretto's wide range of musical interests and also the fact that he came to Latin music from jazz, rather than the usual vice versa route for Latin-descended musicians. Indeed, he has said that he learned how to play swing-style before he came to master Latin grooves.

On this 1971 release, Ray Barretto's band gives us some of the most hard-hitting and funkiest Salsa ever recorded. The straight-ahead guarachas "Adiviname Y Olvidate", "Vive Y Vacila" and "De Donde Vengo" are Barretto masterpieces which are handled superbly by the legendary and golden-voiced sonero Adalberto Santiago while theupbeat son montunos "Invitacion Al Son" and "Hipocresia Y Falsedad" are very much tipico-flavored and very tough but classy.

Tracklist:
01. Ray Barretto - Together (02:39)
02. Ray Barretto - Adiviname y Olvídate (03:59)
03. Ray Barretto - Hipocrecía y Falsedad (04:56)
04. Ray Barretto - No Olvido a Caracas (03:52)
05. Ray Barretto - De Donde Vengo (03:35)
06. Ray Barretto - Vive y Vacila (03:54)
07. Ray Barretto - Invitación al Son (06:30)
08. Ray Barretto - Tin Tin Deo (08:22)