Latin jazz and soul pioneer Ray Barretto died last Friday from heart failure. He had recently undergone bypass surgery in January and had been in spotty health since. He was 76.

Barretto's early career began in the 1950s when the conguero was heavily inspired by experiments between jazz and Latin coming out of the be-bop era, specifically "Manteca" by Dizzy Gillespie. An early protoge of Latin percussionist Chano Pozo, Barretto soon became a prolific sideman and session player in the 1950s with labels such as Blue Note, Riverside and Prestige. He finally emerged as a bandleader in the early 1960s and scored a monster hit in 1962 with "El Watusi." The song was one of the first to bridge Latin and R&B rhythms together, helping it become an early crossover hit beyond just the Latin charts while also laying down the framework for the mid-60s explosion in boogaloo.

That latter genre's fusing of Latin instrumentation, R&B rhythms and English lyrics found a natural home with Barretto's own talents and in 1967, he joined the upstart Latin label, Fania, releasing Acid. A groundbreaking Latin soul LP with songs like "Soul Drummers," and "A Deep Shade of Soul," Acid helped the fledging Fania become the leading Latin imprint by decade's end and Barretto, along with other artists like Willie Colon and Joe Bataan, helped lead that charge.

In the early 1970s, Barretto then became an integral part of the Fania All-Stars and was at the forefront of the salsa revolution, pushing that genre forward to heights of unprecedented popularity.

In more recent years, Barretto had seen a resurgence in his playing and popularity, including a National Endowment for the Arts award as a Jazz Master just last month. (Source: NY Times)

Never one to let a good craze slip by her, Jennifer Lopez is producing a film about the red-hot musical genre reggaeton. The film is called, um, Reggaeton (hey, why beat around the bush?) and is being co-produced by Lopez's Nuyorican Productions and Sony BMG Films. The screenplay is by Albert Leon, and it tells the story of a young 21-year old pimp who decides to turn to hip-hop as a way to ... oh wait, sorry, that was Hustle and Flow. For Reggaeton, a young 21-year old, aspiring rapper is forced to flee New York to Puerto Rico where he discovers reggaeton and becomes a burgeoning star there and then, presumably, returns to New York to live out of his dreams.

Says Lopez,

"This script is a perfect fit for us because not only is it a compelling story with great characters, but it also combines two elements that are very close to my heart-music and Puerto Rico."

To be honest, the plot sounds formulaic but given how big reggaeton is and the appeal this will have to young Puerto Ricans, this could be a decent hit for Lopez; you know the soundtrack is likely going to be fire. As long as it's better than, say, Glitter, this might have legs. (Source: SOHH.com)

The LA Times has a long story on the return, of sorts, of Fania Records, arguably the most important Latin music label of the 1960s and '70s. Founded in 1964 by musician Johnny Pacheco and attorney Jerry Mascucci, Fania was an upstart label that, by the end of the '60s, had either overtaken or outright bought out most of its NY competitors such as Alegre and Tico. While it was already an important purveyor of new Latin music in the '60s, it was the 1970s where Fania really became a giant thanks to the growth of salsa music. The Times' Agustin Gurza describes it as such:

"Fania created its own sound in Latin dance music. It was based on traditional Afro-Caribbean styles with an array of rhythms — son, guaguanco, bomba, plena, rumba, merengue, mambo. But Fania's savvy promoters were the first to market the modernized versions under a single catch-all expression that became a readily recognizable brand in any language: salsa."

Within the Fania stable was everyone from Ray Barretto to Hector Lavoe to Willie Colon to Joe Bataan to Celia Cruz to Eddie Palmieri to ... you get the idea. Though much of Fania's material has been bootlegged and reissued over the years, the recent acquisition of the entire Fania catalog by Miami's Emusica label has lead to an astonishing 30 CD issues – all remastered and repackaged – set to drop in late February.

Let's review that one more time: THIRTY remastered reissues. Get your pocketbooks ready. (Source: LA Times)

After seeing their televised awards show get washed away by hurricanes, MTV finally announced the winners of their Latin Music Awards, sans ceremony. Not surprisingly, the big winner was Shakira who's been having a phenomenally successful year; she took home both Artist of the Year and Video awards for "La Tortura." Other major winners included the Mexican band Reik who won in three categories, including best vocal group; Columbia's Juanes and Argentina's Mirandal both took home two awards a piece.

Even some non-Latin artist got in on the fun: My Chemical Romance was named New Int'l Star while the Black Eyed Peas nabbed honors as Hip-Hop Artists of the year. While MTV has to ceremony to air, it will show a special next Tuesday night dedicated to the winners, including airing some of their videos. (Source: Monsters and Critics)

As we reported yesterday, Mary J. Blige is preparing to play Nina Simone in an upcoming movie. Not to be outdone, Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez are participating in another musical bio-pic, one sure to go over well with Latin music fans who rarely see their heroes translated to the big screen. For the upcoming movie, El Catante (The Singer) nthony will be playing Hector Lavoe, the Puerto Rican singer who rose to fame in the 1970s but who descended into depression in the 1980s over his failing career (Lopez will be playing Lavoe's wife, Puchi).

Interest in Lavoe is not new; David Maldonado produced an off-Broadway play about the singer in 2000, Quien Mato a Hector Lavoe (Who Killed Hector Lavoe) and he is one of the co-producers attached to this film. Director Leon Ichaso (who also directed Piñero) is attached to helm the project and Ichaso co-wrote the script along with Maldonado and David Darmsteder. No word on whether Lavoe's original recordings will be used but given that Anthony has been known to croon a tune or two, it's likely that he'll be doing his own singing in the movie. (Source: Billboard)

After weeks of delays, MTV has finally decided to cancel their Latin Music Video Awards. Originally scheduled for October 19th, MTV was forced to reschedule when Hurricane Wilma paid a visit to the show's Mexican venue. There had been an attempt to stage the show elsewhere but the logistical challenge proved too daunting for organizers. MTV released a statement acknowledging, "A show of this magnitude and complexity requires a great deal of planning and many months to organize, making it impossible for us to accomplish in only six weeks."

The awards will still be announced (sans splashy ceremony) in December and MTV is already making plans to host the 2006 awards back in Mexico back along the same Caribbean coastline damaged by Wilma. (Source: Reuters)

Speaking of award shows (see Woodies post below), the Latin Grammy Awards were last night. One familiar face, Colubmian rock artist Juanes, came through in full force, snatching up five awards, including for best rock song ("Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor"), and best music video ("Volverte a Ver"). The emergent reggaeton genre was represented with an award going to Daddy Yankee for Barrio Fino, which won the Urban album award. However, the night's top prize went to the more classic crooning of Spain's Alejandro Sanz who won both Song and Record of the year for Tu No Tienes Alma. The Best Album nod went to Ivan Lins' Cantando Historias.

In yesterday's NY Times, Kelefa Sanneh argued that, "The best thing you can say about the Latin Grammy Awards is also the worst thing you can say about them: they're all over the place," pointing out that the awards cover such a sprawling mix of cross-genres and different musical cultures, it's hard to "figure out exactly what it is celebrating, and for whom." Most of all, Sanneh questions why reggaeton is so thinly represented in the nominations: "despite the genre's dizzying rise, the Latin academy has not embraced it:

"This year all-reggaetón radio stations sprung up across the country, and the music is hugely popular among Latinos worldwide. Yet despite the genre's dizzying rise, the Latin academy has not embraced it."

Good points though as Sanneh himself acknowledges, the Grammy Awards, whether U.S., Latin or otherwise, have never been on the cutting edge of what's hot on music. Give it a few years and reggaeton may well be running 'tings. (Sources: USA Today, NY Times)

Sad news this weekend: Cuban singer and musician Ibrahim Ferrer has died. Ferrer came to international prominence in the late 1990s thanks to the documentary, The Buena Vista Social Club and subsequent Grammy-winning album. Alongside other Buena Vista performers, Ferrer revived interest in the traditional Afro-Cuban dance style known as son and his 2000 album, Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer won Ferrer a Latin Grammy for Best New Artist.

According to Ferrer's manager, the singer died from multiple-organ failure after returning from a European tour. He was 78. (Source: MSN Music News) 

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Another Latin jazz innovator, bassist Al McKibbon, passed this weekend as well. Beginning with his collaborations with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, McKibbon experimented with fusing Latin rhythms into jazz compositions, resulting in songs such as Gillespie's groundbreaking "Manteca." He later went on to work with big band composer George Shearing and fellow Latin jazz master Cal Tjader. McKibbon was 86. (Source: NY Times)