Ray Barretto, "El Watusi"

KOSMO's VINYL of the Week:
This week we are at 253 W. 73rd St. New York City, at what was then the Hotel Riverside Plaza in 1962, for Ray Barretto's "El Watusi", first released on the "Charanga Moderna" LP on the Tico label...

"Ray Barretto was a Nuyorican (New York City born Puerto Rican) percussionist and band leader. After leaving the Army in 1949, Ray decided to become a musician and he built a reputation that landed him 4 years in Tito Puente's band. He was also sought after as a session musician and it was said that "he had hands like hammers". In the early 1960s, he began leading his own band, which came to be known as Charanga Moderna and in 1963, an album track, "El Watusi", became a smash hit. Ray continued to record and perform live for the rest of his life. He died in 2006 aged 76 and is recognised as one of the giants of Latin Music." - KV
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