Ralph Irizarry (18 July 1954 – 5 September 2021) was a Grammy award-winning percussionist, bandleader, and studio musician who has played on jingles, film and television scores, and whose distinctive playing style has made an indelible mark on those artists with whom he has performed. In addition, he has performed, recorded, and toured with the likes of

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

, David Byrne, Celia Cruz, Paquito D'Rivera,

Juan Luis Guerra Juan Luis Guerra Seijas (born June 7, 1957) is a Dominican musician, singer, composer, and record producer. He has sold 30 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists. Throughout his career, he has wo ...

, Earl Klugh, Israel Lopez "Cachao",

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

, Paul Simon and many others. Irizarry has also appeared on the '' Johnny Carson Show'' and the ''

David Letterman Show ''The David Letterman Show'' is an American morning talk show that was hosted by David Letterman on NBC. It originally aired from June 23 to October 24, 1980. Originally, the series lasted 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward. Back ...

'', as well as Don Francisco's Sabado Gigante and Raul Velasco's Siempre en Domingo. Irizarry was featured in the film ''

The Mambo Kings ''The Mambo Kings'' is a 1992 musical drama film based on the 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love'' by Oscar Hijuelos. The film was directed and produced by Arne Glimcher, and stars Armand Assante, Antonio B ...

'' and in documentaries such as ''Belafonte's Routes of Rhythm'', Cachao's ''Como Mi Ritmo No Hay Dos'' and ''The Life of Rubén Blades''.

Biography

Ralph Irizarry was born in New York's

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

on 18 July 1954 to Puerto Rican parents; his family first moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and then briefly to

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, before finally relocating in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

in 1970. There, he spent three years gaining musical training and experience, and eventually joined Ponce's La Terrifica, as well as playing with El Gran Combo and Sonora Poncena. In 1974, Ralph Irizarry returned to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to pursue a career as a professional musician. After playing with local groups for almost four years, his break finally came when Ray Barretto invited him to join his orchestra. Shortly afterward they were in studio recording the first of six productions. In April 1983,

Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...

invited Irizarry to join in the formation of Seis Del Solar. This association lasted for fourteen years and consisted of intense performing and traveling as well as the production of eight recordings. After Blades left and with his encouragement, the group continued performing and recorded two

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 ...

albums. In 1996, Ralph Irizarry created his own Latin jazz project - Timbalaye - a septet with a different instrumental format: Latin percussion instruments instead of the typical drum set. Timbalaye's repertoire combines contemporary jazz sounds with rhythmic elements from all over

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, as well as

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

. Two years after the group's inception came their first release, ''Ralph Irizarry and Timbalaye''. "Best Kept Secret”, their second album, produced equal results in 2000, and "It’s Time" was released in 2003. Irizarry died on 5 September 2021 at the age of 67 in a hospital in

due to multiple organ failure caused by the bacterial infection in his lungs which led to septic shock.

Discography

* 1998: Timbalaye * 2000: Best Kept Secret (Timbalaye) * 2004: It's Time (Timbalaye) * 2006: Tributo * 2007: Bailando Con Azucar (SonCafe) * 2007: Tributo (SonCafe) * 2012: Viejos Peros Sabrosos (Los Viejo De La Salsa) * 2015: 20th Anniversary (Timbalaye)

References

External links

*
Ralph Irizarry's page on Zildjian

Ralph Irizarry's page on LastFM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irizarry, Ralph 1954 births 2021 deaths Musicians from New York City American percussionists Afro-Cuban jazz percussionists American musicians of Puerto Rican descent Latin jazz musicians American jazz bandleaders Latin Grammy Award winners Jazz musicians from New York (state) People from East Harlem