R.I.P. Gato Barbieri

A couple of days ago, when I read that Gato Barbieri passed away on Saturday, I couldn’t immediately write this article about his him. If I wrote that he had died, then this somehow would make it real in my mind, and I could no longer go on and deny it. Yes, Gato Barbieri had that kind of profound effect on me as a saxophone player.

Back when I was just starting out on saxophone, I somehow ended up buying Barbieri’s Caliente! album. When I heard his tone, his altissimo, and the vocal effects he did through his horn, all I wanted to be able to do was play like him.

Fast forward a few decades, when I played with Cesar Morales y Sabor Latino, there were lots of times my hundreds of hours of Gato listening came out in my playing. Yes, to this day I still use those vocal effects, the heavy growl, and of course the altissimo range a lot in my solo work.

As of Saturday however, Gato’s saxophone was forever silenced as he passed away from pneumonia at the age of 83. He leaves behind a musical legacy that other artists can only dream of.

In his 60+ years in the music industry, Barbieri recorded dozens of albums, won a Grammy for his musical score for the 1972 film Last Tango in Paris, and just last year received a lifetime achievement Grammy from the Latin Recording Academy. And during his nearly seven decade-long career, Gato never stopped performing. His last  public performance was last November 23, at New York’s Blue Note, where he appeared monthly.

As popular as he was with the public, Gato never seemed to get the kind attention in the saxophone world that other greats do. I have often wondered why that is. I suspect it has to do with is playing style.

Gato, although a great technical player, since the 1970s chose a melodic type of Latin jazz music as his musical style. This sensual, melodic style, seems to not appeal to the great masses of saxophone players. As a general rule, they seem to be more impressed with how many notes you can cram into a bar, than they are with how you can make a single note sound melodic, sensual, or climactic as it leads to the next. That to me is a shame, because IMHO, they are missing out on a huge element of what makes music both interesting, as well as appealing.

According to a 2006 interview, this is how Gato Barbieri thought of the music he played after his style-shift post Last Tango:

“In those days,” he said, referring to the 1970s, “the jazz people they don’t consider me a jazz musician. If I am Latin, they don’t consider me Latin. So I am here in the middle.”

“It’s a good thing,” he added. “You know why? Because they say, ‘What do you play?’ I say, ‘I play my music — Gato Barbieri.’”

Source: Gato Barbieri, Latin Jazz Trailblazer With a Saxophone, Is Dead at 83, NY Times, April 2, 2016

There are lots of videos on YouTube that illustrate Gato’s amazing work as a saxophonist. Picking just one was difficult, so I opted for this one from 1973…

As well as this later one, where he is performing with Italian singer and song writer Antonello Venditti. Although not what we normally think of typical Gato stuff, his voice is immediately recognizable. The way he weaves his style around the vocals sends chills down my spine. 

The audience’s, and Antonello Venditti’s, reaction at the end of song say it all: Gato Barbieri was one hell of a sax player. The world has just become slightly less, sonically beautiful because he’s left us.

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Written in part with references from:

Gato Barbieri, Latin Jazz Trailblazer With a Saxophone, Is Dead at 83, NY Times, April 2, 2016

Gato Barbieri, Latin Jazz Great and ‘Last Tango in Paris’ Composer, Dead at 83, Rolling Stone, April 3, 2016

Gato Barbieri, Latin Jazz Saxophonist, Dies at Age 83, Billboard, April 2, 2016