Contact! (Ray Barretto album)

Contact! is an album by the American musician Ray Barretto, released in 1998.[2][3] He is credited with his band, New World Spirit.[4][5]

Contact!
Studio album by
Ray Barretto
Released1998
LabelBlue Note[1]
ProducerRay Barretto
Ray Barretto chronology
My Summertime
(1995)		 Contact!
(1998)		 Portraits in Jazz and Clave
(2000)

The album was nominated for a Grammy Award, in the "Best Latin Jazz Performance" category.[6][7] Barretto supported the album by headlining the 1998 Latin Jazz Festival, in New York City.[8] Barretto hated the most commonly used descriptor of his music: Latin jazz.[9]

Production

"Sister Sadie" is a cover of the Horace Silver song. Michael Philip Mossman played trumpet and saxophone on the album; he also wrote "Moss Code".[10][11]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
Los Angeles Daily News[11]
Ottawa Citizen[14]

The Philadelphia Inquirer deemed Contact! "a straight-ahead exercise that contains Latinate workovers of standards such as 'Poinciana' and 'Caravan'."[15] The Ottawa Citizen wrote that "Barretto's band excels at tightly arranged, polyrhythmic music, but the jazz sensibility always prevails so that mood and immediacy win out over showing off what's been rehearsed."[14] City Pages determined that New World Spirit "strut through a series of salsa-driven numbers that neatly balances the sax and trumpet in the front line with a redoubtable rhythm section."[16]

Newsday called the album "a treasure of tasty moments ... Even when the song selection gets hokey (another version of 'Poinciana'?), the level of his commitment remains high."[17] The Columbia Daily Tribune labeled it "a top-shelf release," writing that "this is a high-octane brass-and percussion ensemble that doesn't quit."[18] The Star Tribune praised the "tip-top, hard-jazz form."[19]

AllMusic wrote: "Songs are masterfully syncretized and utilizing Baretto's unique musical vocabulary, including call-and-response, cubop rhythms and 4/4 swing."[12]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Moss Code" 
2."Caravan" 
3."Serenata" 
4."Dance of Denial" 
5."Poinciana" 
6."Point of Contact/Punto de Contacto" 
7."La Benedicion" 
8."Liberated Spirit" 
9."The Summer Knows" 
10."Sister Sadie" 

References
  1. Tesser, Neil (June 18, 1998). "Ray Barretto & New World Spirit". Chicago Reader.
  2. Anglesey, Zoe (Sep 1998). "Contact!". DownBeat. 65 (9): 48–49.
  3. Point, Michael (11 June 1998). "Improvisation is the key to new name and location for Jazz festival". Austin American-Statesman. p. 12.
  4. Holston, Mark (Jul 1998). "Laying it down—right". Jazziz. 15 (7): 34.
  5. Shuster, Fred (5 June 1998). "Taste of 'Tequila'". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L5.
  6. "Ray Barretto". Recording Academy. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  7. Bauder, David (19 Feb 1999). "Los premios Grammy se entregan el proximo miercoles". El Diario La Prensa. p. 34.
  8. Jones, Ryan; McGuinness, Jim (20 Feb 1998). "LATIN JAZZ GETS A MONTH IN THE SPOTLIGHT". The Record. LIFESTYLE/PREVIEWS. p. 28.
  9. "SOME LATIN IN THE JAZZ". The Times-Picayune. June 12, 1998. p. L6.
  10. Verna, Paul (Feb 28, 1998). "Contact!". Billboard. 110 (9): 70.
  11. Shuster, Fred (30 Jan 1998). "SOUND CHECK". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L25.
  12. "Contact! - Ray Barretto, Ray Barretto & New World Spirit | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  13. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 441.
  14. Hum, Peter (21 Mar 1998). "SATISFYING HOUR OF FIERY JAZZ". Ottawa Citizen. p. E17.
  15. Carter, Kevin L. (13 Feb 1998). "WITH BIG BAND, RAY BARRETTO RETURNS TO SALSA ROOTS". The Philadelphia Inquirer. FEATURES WEEKEND. p. 20.
  16. Dolan, Jon (June 10, 1998). "Band Stand—35 concerts to soundtrack your summer". City Pages. Cover Story.
  17. Torres, Richard (15 Mar 1998). "Blowing the Roof Off With Conga". Newsday. p. D29.
  18. Poses, Jon W. (April 5, 1998). "New jazz releases shine". Columbia Daily Tribune.
  19. Surowicz, Tom (June 14, 1998). "Music: Ray Barretto". Star Tribune. p. 15F.
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