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 major ...

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 during ...

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, whic ...

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 pitches ...

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 tenor ...

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 elemen ...

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 The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

's late recordings, as well as those from other

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", San ...

, 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 ''Last Tango in Paris'' ( it, Ultimo tango a Parigi; french: Le Dernier Tango à Paris) is a 1972 erotic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. The film stars Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider and Jean-Pierre Léaud, and portrays a recently w ...

'' 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 pres ...

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 positi ...

. 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 featured ...

'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 Cliff ...

". ''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'' (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 Bahman Maghsoudlou (born 1946) is a film scholar, critic, author and independent film producer/director. Maghsoudlou has, in the words of Cinema Without Borders editor-in-chief Bijan Tehrani, "dedicated his life orecording valuable information ...

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'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 19 ...

. 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 severity ...

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 Year 978 ( CMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Pankaleia: Rebel forces under General Bardas Skleros are defeated ...

* ''Confluence'' (Freedom, 1968) with

Dollar Brand Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand on 9 October 1934 and formerly known as Dollar Brand) is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cap ...

– also released as ''Hamba Khale!'' (1974) and ''I Grandi del Jazz'' (1976) * '' The Third World'' (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 ...

* ''

'' (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

* '' 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'' (3 volumes) (ESP-Disk, 1966) * ''

Symphony for Improvisers ''Symphony for Improvisers'' is an album by Don Cherry featuring Gato Barbieri, Henry Grimes, and Ed Blackwell, all of whom appeared on Cherry's previous album ''Complete Communion'', along with Karl Berger, Jean-François Jenny-Clark, and Pharoa ...

'' (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 he ...

*'' A Genuine Tong Funeral'' (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 out ...

* '' 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 charac ...

'' (Verve, 1968) With

* ''

'' (Impulse!, 1969) With

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'' (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 * ''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