RARITY - Sealed Congas, Percussion – Ray Barretto Vocals – Willy Torres (B2) Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Flute – Joe Farrell Drums – Mark Craney, Steve Gadd Bass – Francisco Centeno Guitar – John Tropea Percussion – Charlie Palmieri Piano – Carlos Franzetti, Charlie Palmieri Synthesizer programmed by Suzanne Ciani Synthesizer by Jeremy Wall Timbales – Tito Puente Arranged by Carlos Franzetti (A3), Jeremy Wall Written by Howard Schneider (A1), Jeremy Wall (A2), Carlos Franzetti (A3), Modeste Mussourgsky (B1), Stevie Wonder (B2) 1 LP, standard sleeve Original Master Tape : YES Heavy Press : 180g Record color : black Speed : 33RPM Size : 12” Stereo Studio Record Press : Pallas Label : Speakers Corner Original Label : CTI Records Recorded August 1979 at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder Mixed by Neil Dorfsman Produced by Creed Taylor Mastered by Rudy Van Gelder Design by Jonathan Andrews Photography by Creed Taylor, Jr. Originally released in August, 1979 Reissued in 2017 Tracks : Side A: 1. La Cuna 2. Doloroso 3. Mambotango Side B: 1. The Old Castle 2. Pastime Paradise Reviews: "Producer Creed Taylor has inspired everything from praise to anger among jazz fans. His work has been brilliant at times, detrimental at others (his worst flaw being a tendency to overproduce). Taylor plays a mostly positive role on La Cuna, a jazz-oriented effort uniting Ray Barretto with such first-class talent as Tito Puente (timbales) and the late Joe Farrell (tenor & soprano sax, flute). As slick as things get at times on La Cuna, Taylor wisely gives the players room to blow on everything from the haunting "Doloroso" and the driving "Cocinando" (a piece by Carlos Franzetti that shouldn't be confused with Barretto's major salsa/cha-cha hit) to a somewhat Gato Barbieri-ish take on Mussorgsky's "The Old Castle." Barretto successfully moves into soul territory on Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise" (which rapper Coolio recast as his hit "Gangsta's Paradise" in 1994). Barretto may hate the term "Latin jazz," but make no mistake: La Cuna is one of his most memorable contributions to that genre." AllMusic review by Alex Henderson Rating : Discogs : 4.78 / 5 ; AllMusic, 4 / 5
