"Barbieri the Cat"

Talk about a sound that's both sensual and captivating! Argentine tenor saxophonist and composer, Leandro Barbieri, better known as Gato Barbieri, plays some of the smoothest saxophone you'll ever hear. Born to a family of musicians, Barbieri began playing after hearing Charlie Parker's "Now is the Time." He began his career playing the clarinet and alto saxophone. By the early 1960s, Barbieri was playing tenor saxophone and let the influences of John Coltrane's late recordings, as well as other free jazz saxophonists such as Albert Ayler and Pharoah Sanders, shape his unique sound. It was then a that Barbieri developed that warm, "gritty" tone, which would become Barbieri's trademark.

By the late 1960s, Barbieri was fusing sounds of South American music into his recordings and introduced a whole new world of passionate music. He won a Grammy for his score for Bernardo Bertolucci's film Last Tango in Paris, which led to a record deal with Impulse Records. He's worked with some of music's most recognizable artists such as Carlos Santana, and jazz music giants like Don Cherry and Charlie Haden. Gato Barbieri's smooth, sexy, passionate latin sound has truly made him a jazz icon among the free, latin, and smooth jazz communities.

Here are two of my favorite Gato Barbieri's songs:




She is Michelle - A song Gato Barbieri wrote for his wife Michelle some years after her tragic death. A personal favorite since my name is Michelle :D

Enjoy such an amazing sax!

Takin' Five...