Concert: Gato Barbieri

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Gato Barbieri is considered as the second Argentine musician after Lalo Schifrin to make a significant impact upon jazz . Barbieri is an influential Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist and composer who attained success during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and from his Latin jazz recordings in the 1970s. Leandro Barbieri who is well known as El Gato Barbieri was born on November 28, 1934 in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina. Though Barbieri belonged to a musician family, he did not take up an instrument until the age of 12 when he was highly inspired and encouraged by a hearing of Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time" and led him to study the clarinet. Later he learned the alto saxophone while teaming with Argentine pianist Lalo Schifrin. He also played tenor saxophone while in Rome with trumpeter Don Cherry in 1962.. Upon joining his group, Barbieri became highly absorbed in the jazz avant-garde. IN late 60s, Barbieri joined Mike Mantler's Jazz Composers' Orchestra in which his fierce tone unleashed in the "Hotel Overture" of Carla Bley's epic work "Escalator Over the Hill."

At the beginning of the next decade, Barbieri realized a slow change of heart. He was highly influenced by John Coltrane's late recordings, saxophonists Albert Ayler and Pharoah Sanders which changed Barbieri's warm and gritty tone to form that would become his unique and characteristic sound. With this, he started reincorporating and introducing South American melodies, musical instruments, harmonies and rhythm patterns into his music. Many albums like "El Pampero on Flying Dutchman" and the four-part Chapter series on "Impulse" in which he explored Brazilian and Afro-Cuban rhythms and textures bagged him huge fame. In addition to this, his Argentine reflection brought him plenty of success in the jazz world and gained him a following on American college campuses.

Barbieri started fusing the musics from South America into his playing in late 60s. He was awarded by Grammy Award for Bernardo Bertolucci's film "Last Tango in Paris" in 1972. This reward led him to strike a deal with Impulse Records. This hit made him an international star and a draw at festivals in Montreux, Newport, Bologna, and other places. By late 70s, he gave super hit albums with jazz-pop music where the change in his tone could be realized very clearly. He released "Caliente" for A&M Records with his most popular song "Carlos Santana's Europa".

In 1981, Barbieri was back to a more intense, rock-influenced, South American-grounded sound with the live "Gato...Para los Amigos" under the endorsement of producer Teo Macero, though later he doubled back to pop/jazz on Apasionado. Yet his profile in the U.S. was diminished later in the decade in the wake of the buttoned-down neo-bop movement. In late1980s Barbieri withdrew from public because of his triple-bypass surgery and demise of his wife Michelle who was his closest musical confidant. He returned to action in 1997, playing with most of his impassioned intensity at the Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles. Same time he recorded a somewhat bland album, "Que Pasa", for Columbia, followed by "Che Corazon" in 1999. In 2002, he came up with another album "Shadow of the Cat", from Peak Records.

Gato received a Lifetime Achievement Award by Long Island University and WLIU in July 2003. He participated in many concerts after that and featured as the 2004 Honoree at Puerto Rican Heineken Jazz Festival in 2004. In late 2004, Gato was honored with Lifetime Achievement Award by the Argentine Ambassador in New York City.

His latest album "The Impulse story" is again going to leave its mark on his fans' heart by its superb rhythms and jazz. Other than recording, he has appeared in many concerts held in New York.