Gato Barbieri R.I.P.

[CJ Shearn]

This one is tough and unexpected to me because one of my very best friends just played with him on an album recently with Mercedes Figueras. My friend has been close with Gato's wife Laura as she goes to our church.  So I never met them personally, but it feels kind of close.

[John L]

I really loved his sound.

RIP

[BillF]

2 hours ago, John L said:

I really loved his sound

 

but I didn't like his socks

[John L]

Come on.  He's mackin'.   We used to call those pimp socks back in the 70s.  You HAD to wear them. 

 

  

[felser]

18 hours ago, JSngry said:

I've come to respect the hell out of his "commercial" work. Coming to terms with the exact nuances of his reading of "Europa" was a fucking head trip. He was feeling that stuff in a way that not may other attempters of the same thing were.

RIP, El Apasionado

I thought that whole 'Caliente' album was fantastic,  one of the best if not the best of that type of commercially album ever.

[mjzee]

I always enjoyed this album, especially "India."  RIP.

 

 

[JSngry]

4 hours ago, felser said:

I thought that whole 'Caliente' album was fantastic,  one of the best if not the best of that type of commercially album ever.

Let me tell you about "Europa"...after years of just "playing" it, I decided to really play it like Gato...and discovered with no uncertainty almost immediately was that either the guy had breath control equal to vintage Sinatra, or else he was able to punch in phrases in a really seamless flow, and although that's cheating if it's used to cover for inability, in this case it would be an artistic choice, because those lines are sooooo long and the flow so uninterrupted and the arcs so complete in themselves,  I mean, try singing that one sometimes, sing it with the record...it'll kill you trying to do it like Gato does, only breathing where he appears to.

So it's masterful breath and tonal control. or a masterful assemblage of individual acts of masterful breath and tonal control. The more I got into the specifics, the more I leaned towards it being an assemblage, but even then, getting the potions to sound that right on their own...good lord, this is why I like to listen to singers, because "horn players" too often think of melody as something you play on a horn, when in reality, it can/should be something you sing on a horn!

And Gato, at his best, was a singer. Not just of melodies, but of shouts, of chants, of exhortations, of wordless states of ecstatic possessions, etc.

[Cyril]

R.I.P. Gato.

Thanks for the music !!!