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Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the
free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...
movement in the 1960s and is known for his
Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which ...
recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spanish for "cat".


Biography

Born to a family of musicians, Barbieri began playing music after hearing
Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
's "Now's the Time". He played the
clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...
and later the
alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B t ...
while performing with Argentine pianist
Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical eleme ...
in the late 1950s. By the early 1960s, while playing in Rome, he also worked with the trumpeter
Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...
. By now influenced by
John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...
's late recordings, as well as those from other
free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...
saxophonists such as
Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Howev ...
and
Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of " sheets of sound", ...
, he began to develop the warm and gritty tone with which he is associated. In the late 1960s, he was fusing music from South America into his playing and contributed to multi-artist projects like
Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...
's ''
Liberation Music Orchestra Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...
'' and
Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...
's '' Escalator Over The Hill''. His score for
Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...
's 1972 film '' Last Tango in Paris'' earned him a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
and led to a record deal with
Impulse! Records Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positiv ...
. By the mid-1970s, he was recording for
A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
and moved his music towards soul-jazz and jazz-pop. ''Caliente!'' (1976) included his best-known song, a rendition of
Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...
's "
Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Clif ...
". ''Caliente!'' and his follow-up album, ''Ruby Ruby'' (1977) were both produced by fellow musician and label co-founder,
Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...
. Although he continued to record and perform well into the 1980s, including composing the scores to films such as ''
Firepower Firepower is the military capability to direct force at an enemy. (It is not to be confused with the concept of rate of fire, which describes the cycling of the firing mechanism in a weapon system.) Firepower involves the whole range of potenti ...
'' (1979) and ''
Strangers Kiss ''Strangers Kiss'' is a 1983 American drama film directed by Matthew Chapman, and starring Peter Coyote, Victoria Tennant, Dan Shor and Blaine Novak. The screenplay by Chapman and Novak documents the behind-the-scenes of Stanley Kubrick's secon ...
'' (1983), the death of his wife Michelle led him to withdraw from the public arena. He returned to recording and performing in the late 1990s, composing original scores at the behest of friend Bahman Maghsoudlou for
Amir Naderi Amir Naderi ( fa, امیر نادری (), born 15 August 1946, in Abadan) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for '' The Runner'' and ''Vegas: Based on a True Story''. Career Amir Naderi grew up in Abada ...
's ''Manhattan by Numbers'' (1991) and
Daryush Shokof Daryush Shokof (Persian: داریوش شکوف, born 1954) is an Iranian artist, film director, writer, and film producer based in Germany. Biography He was born as Ali Reza Shokoufandeh on 25 June 1954 in Tehran, Imperial State of Iran. Sho ...
's '' Seven Servants'' (1996). The album ''Qué Pasa'' (1997) moved more into the style of
smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the ...
. Barbieri was the inspiration for the character Zoot in the fictional Muppet band Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. On April 2, 2016, Barbieri died of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...
in New York City at the age of 83.


Personal life

Barbieri married his first wife Michelle in 1960. She was also his manager and musical confidant. She died in 1995 after a 10-year battle with cancer. During that time, Barbieri stopped recording and touring to care for her. After her death, he went back to play and met his second wife, Laura, who gave birth to his son Christian, in 1998.


Discography


As leader

* '' In Search of the Mystery'' (ESP Disk, 1967) * ''Obsession'' (Affinity, 1967, 978 * ''Confluence'' (Freedom, 1968) with Dollar Brand – also released as ''Hamba Khale!'' (1974) and ''I Grandi del Jazz'' (1976) * ''
The Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the ...
'' (Flying Dutchman, 1969) * '' Fenix'' (Flying Dutchman, 1971) * '' El Pampero'' (Flying Dutchman, 1971) * '' Under Fire'' (Flying Dutchman, 1971
973 Year 973 ( CMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – The Byzantine army, led by General Melias (Domestic of the S ...
* '' Last Tango in Paris'' (United Artists, 1972) * ''
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'' (Flying Dutchman, 1973) * '' Chapter One: Latin America'' (Impulse!, 1973) * '' Chapter Two: Hasta Siempre'' (Impulse!, 1973) * '' Chapter Three: Viva Emiliano Zapata'' (Impulse!, 1974) * '' Yesterdays'' (Flying Dutchman, 1974) * '' Chapter Four: Alive in New York'' (Impulse!, 1975) * ''El Gato'' (1975 compilation) includes 1 previously unreleased track * ''Caliente!'' (A&M, 1976) * ''I Grandi del Jazz'' (1976) (Previously released as Confluence and Hamba Khale!) * ''Ruby Ruby'' (1977) * ''Tropico'' (1978) * ''Euphoria'' (1979) * ''Bahia'' (1982) * ''Apasionado'' (1983) * ''Para Los Amigos'' (1984) * ''Passion And Fire'' (1988) * ''The Third World Revisited'' (1988 compilation) * '' Seven Servants'' (1996) * '' Qué Pasa'' (1997) * ''Che Corazón'' (1999) * ''The Shadow of The Cat'' (2002) * ''New York Meeting'' (2010)


As sideman

With
Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...
* '' Togetherness'' (Durium, 1965) * ''
Complete Communion ''Complete Communion'' is a 1966 album by American jazz composer Don Cherry, his debut as a bandleader and his first release on Blue Note Records. Each side of the original LP were suites, side-long compositions working with several themes. Criti ...
'' (Blue Note, 1966) * ''
Live at Cafe Montmartre 1966 ''Live at Cafe Montmartre 1966'', Volumes 1, 2, and 3, is a trio of live albums by trumpeter Don Cherry. The albums were recorded in March 1966 at the Cafe Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark, and were released by ESP-Disk in 2007 (Volume 1), 2008 ...
'' (3 volumes) (ESP-Disk, 1966) * '' Symphony for Improvisers'' (Blue Note, 1966) With
Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be h ...
*''
A Genuine Tong Funeral ''A Genuine Tong Funeral'' is an album by vibraphonist Gary Burton featuring compositions by Carla Bley recorded in 1967 and released on the RCA label in 1968.
'' (RCA, 1967) With the
Jazz Composer's Orchestra The Jazz Composer's Orchestra was an American jazz group, founded by Carla Bley and Michael Mantler in 1965, to perform orchestral avant-garde jazz. Its origins lay in the Jazz Composers Guild, an organization founded by Bill Dixon which grew ou ...
* '' The Jazz Composer's Orchestra'' (1968) With
Alan Shorter Alan Shorter (May 29, 1932 – April 5, 1988) was a free jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, and the older brother of composer and saxophone player Wayne Shorter. Biography Shorter was born in the Ironbound District in Newark, New Jersey. He st ...
* ''
Orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling") or sexual climax is the sudden discharge of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, resulting in rhythmic, involuntary muscular contractions in the pelvic region chara ...
'' (Verve, 1968) With
Charlie Haden Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...
* ''
Liberation Music Orchestra Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking ...
'' (Impulse!, 1969) With
Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...
and Paul Haines * '' Escalator Over The Hill'' (JCOA, 1971) * ''
Tropic Appetites ''Tropic Appetites'' is a jazz album by Carla Bley released in 1974, following her debut '' Escalator over the Hill''. The lyrics are contributed by Bley's friend Paul Haines, based on his journeys to Southeast Asia in the preceding years. Unlike ...
'' (Watt, 1974) With
Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album ''The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signifi ...
*''
Swiss Suite ''Swiss Suite'' is a live album by American jazz composer/arranger Oliver Nelson featuring performances by a big band with soloists Gato Barbieri (tenor sax) and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (alto sax). The album was recorded at the Montreux Jazz Fest ...
'' (Flying Dutchman, 1971) With
Antonello Venditti Antonio "Antonello" Venditti (born 8 March 1949) is an Italian singer-songwriter and pianist who became famous in the 1970s for the social themes of his songs. Biography Antonello Venditti was born in Rome, the son of Vincenzino Italo Venditti f ...
* ''Da Sansiro A Samarcanda (1992) With
Letizia Gambi Letizia Gambi is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. Her music is a fusion between her Italian and Neapolitan heritage and Black Jazz American roots. Gambi performs and records in English, Italian, Neapolitan and Spanish and is best known f ...
* ''Introducing Letizia Gambi'' (Via Veneto Jazz, 2012)


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbieri, Gato 1932 births 2016 deaths Argentine composers Argentine film score composers Male film score composers Latin jazz saxophonists Argentine jazz tenor saxophonists Male saxophonists Flying Dutchman Records artists Impulse! Records artists Musicians from Rosario, Santa Fe Free jazz saxophonists ESP-Disk artists Smooth jazz saxophonists Argentine people of Italian descent Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Deaths from pneumonia in New York City Male jazz musicians 20th-century saxophonists