DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract? It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith. We were blessed with Charles Bukowski, Gene Chandler, Lenny Bruce, Mitch Ryder and a legion of creative explorers whose influences provided the air we breathe. So Let's Dance! This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over. So what's the worst that our desires could produce? Failure? So sue me. I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness. Join me Ladies and Germs!
DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS
HOTEL BOHEMIA PRESENTS "THE EL WATUSI CONNECTION- THE RAY BARRETTO STORY "- FEATURING THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS, RICH BUCKLAND AND BILL MESNIK- One of the most influential percussionists of all time, Ray helped bring Latin rhythms into the jazz mainstream.
Raymond Barretto Pagan was born to Puerto Rican parents in New York on April 29, 1929. When he was barely four years old, his father decided to leave home and return to Puerto Rico. His mother settled in the South Bronx and raised her three children by herself. From an early age, Barretto was influenced by two styles of music: Latin and Jazz. During the day, his mother listened to the music of Daniel Santos, Bobby Capó, and the Los Panchos Trio. However, as Ray grew up, he fell in love with Machito Grillo, Marcelino Guerra, Arsenio Rodríguez, and the Jazz orchestra greats he heard on the radio; stars like Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington.
When he turned 17, Barretto enlisted in the United States Army and was sent off to World War II. While stationed in Germany, he heard the song that changed his life: “Manteca” by Chano Pozo and the Dizzy Gillespie band. When he left the army, Barretto returned to New York and, influenced by the percussion instruments that his idol Chano Pozo dominated, he bought a bongo. But he wasn’t satisfied with the sound, so he went out and spent 50 dollars on some tumbadors he saw for sale in a local neighborhood bakery. And that’s how he took his first steps onto the nightclub music scene. His first recording was in 1953, with Eddie Bonnemere’s Latin Jazz group at the Red Garter lounge in New York. In contrast to famous conga players of the time like Cándido Camero, Mongo Santamaría, and Patato Valdés –who started out with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and worked their their way up to Jazz– Barretto started out in the world of Jazz; it would be years before he would make a foray into other Latin rhythms.
