20 Years Later, Barretto Still Has Conga Magic

Few conga players work as well in the jazz idiom as Ray Barretto. Making his first Southern California appearance in more than two decades Friday at the Ash Grove, the 67-year-old, New York-based percussionist showed why he’s been the conguero of choice since the 1950s for jazz musicians ranging from Red Garland to Lou Donaldson.

Not content to pound endless salsa percussion behind familiar themes, Barretto functioned more like a jazz drummer, working up swing, bop and even backbeat tempos with his sextet New World Spirit, playing the kind of Latin dance beats usually expected of percussionists only occasionally--and even then in unexpected places--while adding emphasis, punctuation and percussive echoes in response to his band members.

Likewise, New World Spirit is not your typical Latin jazz band. Like his protege Jerry Gonzalez, Barretto underscores the jazz in the Latin jazz equation. His songs bristle with engaging interplay and involved improvisations. Tempos shifted frequently and the band, at times, had a decidedly contemporary feel. Though there were plenty of attractive rhythmic moves, this was by no means a dance band.

The tunes included Duke Jordan’s sophisticated “No Hay Problema” and Stanley Turrentine’s boppish “Brother Tom,” which made few pretenses toward a Latin feel. Of the originals, “Taboo” had detailed, modern airs, accented by saxophonist Adam Kolker’s tenor, and “Brother Ray,” the most dance-minded of the pieces, featured strong, Freddie Hubbard-inspired fluegelhorn from Ray Vega and Barretto’s own melodic percussion.

Throughout the performance, Barretto’s familiar manner drew the capacity audience in with tales of his first visit to L.A. in the ‘50s with Tito Puente (“I was in love with this town . . . all the myths about Hollywood were happening at the time and the party never ended”) and discussion of his direction (“I want people to check out the music and the musicians . . . they don’t do that when they dance”). While setting up his congas, which arrived an hour after the show was to start, he entertained the patient crowd with a clever, impromptu vocal based on “Everything Happens to Me.”