Ray Barretto A Deeper Shade of Soul

Ray Barretto, percussionist for the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Tito Puente, is one of those guys that comes up everywhere you look, once you start looking. Besides recording sessions with folks like the Rolling Stones and The Bee Gees, and 25 years later, Celia Cruz, many of Barretto’s original recordings are both milestones and archetypes within themselves.

High on the list are the tracks to be found on his 1968 album Acid, his first release on the Fania label. A Deeper Shade of Soul is a crowd favorite that us thirtysomethings saw rebirthed as a 1991 Billboard hit by Dutch band Urban Dance Squad.

It’s the original that you’ll find re-touched here by DJ Still Life, with just enough instrumental length and b-more beat to make a DJ squeal.

-Fucci