Gato Barbieri

Leandro J. " Gato " Barbieri ( born November 28, 1932 in Rosario, Argentina) is a jazz musician (tenor saxophone) and film composer.

Life and work

After studying music in Buenos Aires he worked since 1953 in the orchestra of Lalo Schifrin. In 1962 he moved to Europe (initially to Rome ), where he worked with Ted Curson, Jim Hall and from 1965 Don Cherry. Due to the interesting work in the Don Cherry Quintet Barbieri went out with this in 1967 to New York. There he established himself in the free-jazz avant-garde through collaboration with groups such as the Jazz Composer's Orchestra and the Liberation Music Orchestra by Charlie Haden. At the turn of the 1970s, he remembered his roots, changed his style and now increasingly brought Latin American music ( Afro-Brazilian music) with their varied rhythms in a free jazz context. For this, he worked extensively with percussionist as Naná Vasconcelos, Airto Moreira and James Mtume and also with the bandoneon player Dino Saluzzi. The highlight of this period were his recordings early 70s for the record label Flying Dutchman and Impulse: The Third World ( 1970), Fenix ​​(1971 ), El Pampero (1972) and Bolivia (1973 ) were unique at that time in the mix of jazz and Latino. The wild sax solos to Latin American classics like " El dia que me quieras " were never achieved - neither of Gato by other. Gato Barbieri worked with Carla Bley's Oratory in Escalator over the Hill, and in the recordings of their Suite A Genuine Tong Funeral by Gary Burton Quartet and the Jazz Composers ' Orchestra. 1972 Barbieri wrote the film score for Bernardo Bertolucci film Last Tango in Paris and won a Grammy for it.

Since the late 1970s, Gato Barbieri plays a geared to the general public taste blend of modern jazz and popular music, as with Carlos Santana (Europe), without, however, while the intensity of his melodic saxophone playing would have changed significantly. He is a big, powerful lyricist - as his nickname Gato ( the cat ) suggests. Since the death of his wife, Michelle, and a heart attack he goes only sporadically on tour or in the recording studio.

Discography (selection)

  • In Search of the Mystery ( ESP-Disk, 1967) with Sirone, Calo Scott, Bobby Kapp
  • Gato Barbieri / Dollar Brand Hamba Khale (Fuel 1968)
  • Under Fire (RCA Victor, 1969) with John Abercrombie, Stanley Clarke, Roy Haynes, Airto Moreira
  • The Third World ( 1969)
  • El Pampero ( Impulse, 1971)
  • Fenix ​​(RCA / Flying Dutchman, 1971) with Lonnie Liston Smith, Lenny White, Ron Carter, Naná Vasconcelos
  • El Gato ( Flying Dutchman AYL1 3817 - 1971)
  • Last Tango in Paris ( United Artists, 1972; arranged by Oliver Nelson)
  • Bolivia (RCA, 1973) with Jean -Francois Jenny -Clark
  • Chapter One: Latin America ( Impulse!, 1973) with Lee Ritenour
  • Chapter Two: Hasta siempre (1973 )
  • Chapter Three: Viva Emiliano Zapata (1974 )
  • Chapter Four: Alive in New York ( 1975)
  • Caliente (A & M, 1978)
  • Euphoria (A & M, 1979)
  • Bahia ( Fania, 1982)
  • The Shadow of the Cat ( Peak, 2002)

Film Music

Lexigraphic entries

  • Ian Carr et al Jazz Rough Guide Metzler, Stuttgart 1999; ISBN 3-476-01584- X
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