Looking Back Richard Baratta

• 1 I Feel Good 04:57
• 2 Purple Haze 04:35
• 3 Blowin' in the Wind 05:00
• 4 Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds 05:45
• 5 Feeling Good 06:23
• 6 California Dreamin' 04:51
• 7 Whole Lotta Love 05:51
• 8 Hey Jude 06:25
• 9 Respect 05:50
• 10 You Can't Always Get What You Want 05:05
• Total Runtime 54:42

Info zu Looking Back

Richard Baratta hat im Laufe der Jahrzehnte viele Hüte getragen; Schlagzeugermeister, Grammy-Nominee, Filmproduzent, Musiker, aber seine neueste Kopfbedeckung führt uns auf eine nostalgische Straße klassischer Rock- und Seelenaufnahmen von Mitte bis Ende der 1960er Jahre. Hier auf seiner neuesten Aufnahme erforscht Baratta, zusammen mit seiner Arbeitsband, Melodien wie "Blowin' in the Wind", "Purple Haze", "I Feel Good", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "Whole Lotta Love", "Respect" und andere Rock-Mega-Hits. Mit einem echten All-Star-Ensemble zur Hand sind die Arrangements des Pianisten Bill O'Connell gründlich schwingende Angelegenheiten mit einem frischen, einzigartigen Ansatz und einem flippigen Latin Jazz Feeling. Wie bei seiner Music in Film Serie erweist sich Richard Baratta als begabter Innovator darin, vertrautes und oft überraschendes Material in lebendige Jazzaufführungen zu verwandeln, die diesen wahrhaft ikonischen Melodien neue Konzepte verleihen und ihren zeitlosen Reiz unterstreichen.

„Die Formel mag einfach erscheinen, aber die Arrangements sind kompliziert, wie Baratta selbst erklärt. Der Schlagzeuger spricht von seiner Bewunderung für das ursprüngliche Flötensolo, das er damals revolutionär fand: „Es war ein Sound, den ich absolut liebte“, erinnert er sich. „Ich habe Coltrane und Miles gehört, aber ich habe nie aufgehört, Rock zu hören“. Hey Jude, das später auf dem Album erscheint, spiegelt diese tiefe Affinität zum Rock weiter wider, während es gleichzeitig die musikalische Sensibilität des Sextetts unter Beweis stellt. Einmal mehr verleiht O'Connell dem Arrangement einen subtilen Latin-Touch. Wie Sie vielleicht wissen, bin ich normalerweise kein Fan von Cover-Alben, doch dieses ist ein verstecktes Juwel - einfallsreich, sehr persönlich und voller Überraschungen. Baratta und sein Ensemble bieten eine neue Sichtweise auf beliebte Songs und sorgen so für ein durch und durch angenehmes Hörerlebnis. Egal, ob Sie das Album auflegen oder die Band live erleben, dies ist eine unverzichtbare musikalische Reise - eine, die noch mehr verspricht!“ (Thierry De Clemensat, PARIS-MOVE)

Vincent Herring, Altsaxophon
Paul Bollenback, Gitarre
Bill O'Connell, Keyboards, Arrangeur
Michael Goetz, Kontrabass
Richard Baratta, Schlagzeug, Leiter
Paul Rossman, Congas, Percussion

Richard Baratta
was born into a musically oriented family in Poughkeepsie, NY in 1950. He began his musical journey at the age 12, playing saxophone, flute and drums, and eventually, exclusively drums. He played mostly jazz all through his teens. After earning a BA in History from Wagner College in 1973, and after studying with Jack DeJohnette, Bob Moses and Steve Haas he moved to NYC in 1975 to pursue his musical career. From 1975 to 1984 Baratta played gigs and recorded in and out of NYC. Some of his bandmates and associations were with John Stubblefield, Joe Ford, Frank Strozier, Hal Galper, Mike Richmond, Saheb Sarbib, Dennis Irwin, Vernon Reid, Billy Bang, Jack Wilkens, Ryo Kawasaki, Jessica Hagedorn and the Gangster Choir, Guilherme Franco, Pe De Boi, Cyro Baptista, and a very memorable one day hit with Hank Mobley and then Johnny Hartman.

In 1984, Baratta decided to dramatically alter paths, and pursued a career in movie production. "Money was tight, the gigs were hard to come by, and I was getting married and wanted to raise a family. It was just time for a very difficult decision that had to be made. I looked back many times and terribly missed the joy in playing and the camaraderie with the musicians. It was a total about face, but I have no regrets, except missing the live performance."

Since working on his his first film, Desperately Seeking Susan in 1984, Baratta has worked on over 50 movies, first as a Location Manager, then Unit Production Manager, and for the past 15 years as a Co-Producer and Executive Producer. A small sampling of his filmography includes, Academy Award nominated Joker Joaquin Phoenix winning the Best Actor Award, Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award nominated The Irishman, Dr.Strange, The Wolf of Wall Street, five Spiderman movies,Too Big To Fail, Smurfs, Taking Pelham 123, Across the Universe, Donnie Brasco, Working Girl, and Big. For a full listing of Baratta's film credits, visit imdb.com/name/nm0053102/ ​

The past 35 years of movie making never prevented Baratta from regularly listening to and attending music almost all the clubs in NYC and festivals elsewhere. As best he could, he tried to maintain relationships with his past bandmates and stay up on the jazz scene. However, with the exception of the occasional one nite gig every few years, Baratta essentially remained on the sidelines when it came to performing. Then a very fortuitous event occurred.

An opportunity presented itself in the fall of 2016 that changed everything. He decided to return to his roots and main love and began performing music again, while continuing to produce films. From December 2016 to the present he has played with Eric Alexander, Vincent Herring, Walter Blanding, Marcus Printup, Bruce Harris, Gerald Cannon, Bill O’Connell, Emmett Cohen, Jeb Patton, Steve Ash, Chris Pattishal, Mike LeDonne, Ray Gallon, Dave Kikoski Danny Nimmer, Jerry Weldon, Rogerio Bocatto, Paul Bollenback, Dave Stryker, Mike Goetz, Essiet Essiet, Yoshi Waki, and many others. From Baratta’s lips, “I’m telling you, I’m in heaven. I just want to keep it going. A light bulb has gone off in my head and the music seems clearer, fresher and more illuminating than ever.”

Baratta currently resides in Tenafly, N.J. Hopefully you’ll be seeing and hearing from him more often in the near future.

Booklet für Looking Back