Eddie del Barrio

Eduardo Gutiérrez del Barrio, known professionally as Eddie del Barrio, is an Argentinian composer, arranger, songwriter, and pianist. He is a founding member of the jazz fusion band Caldera. He has collaborated with Earth, Wind & Fire, Stan Getz, Herb Alpert, and Dianne Reeves.

Eddie del Barrio
Birth name	Eduardo Gutiérrez del Barrio
Born	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Genres	Jazz, Latin jazz, classical.
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, arranger
Instrument(s)	Piano, keyboards
Years active	1955–present
Labels	A&M

Early life

Eduardo del Barrio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1937. In 1942 his family moved to Mendoza, where his father started a music school. Del Barrio is a classically trained pianist. At seventeen he led a jazz band, playing in clubs. In 1965 he moved to the United States.^[1] His brother Jorge del Barrio was classically trained and moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as an arranger.

Career

Eduardo del Barrio and Jorge Strunz of Costa Rica were the founding members of Caldera, a jazz fusion group. Caldera was composed of Del Barrio on keyboards, Strunz on guitar, Dean Cortez on bass and Steve Tavaglione on saxophone, Cuban drummer Carlos Vega, and Brazilian percussionist Mike Azevedo.

In 1976 Capitol Records signed the band and released the debut album Caldera.^[2] Del Barrio co-produced the albums Sky Islands, Time and Chance, and Dreamer.^[3][4][5] Larry Dunn of Earth, Wind & Fire, co-produced Sky Islands.^[6] Caldera's song "Out of the Blue" reached position 95 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart on January 22, 1977.^[7] "Time and Chance" reached position 46 on the Billboard Best Selling Jazz LPs chart in October 1978.^[8] "Ancient Source" was sampled by American rapper Joey Badass on his song "95 Til' Infinity".^[9][10]

Del Barrio composed "Fantasy", "Runnin' ", "Star",^[11] "Sailaway", "Sparkle", "Straight from the Heart" and "Miracles" for Earth, Wind & Fire.^[12][13] "Runnin'" was re-recorded by American jazz musician Marcus Miller with additional music and lyrics under the title "Keep 'Em Runnin".^[14] "Fantasy" received a nomination for Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. "Runnin" won a Grammy award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance.^[15][16]

Del Barrio collaborated with Dianne Reeves during the recording sessions for Caldera's album Sky Islands when she sang on the song "Ancient Source".^[17][18] Reeves sang a version of "Ancient Source" on her album The Nearness of You. Del Barrio was a composer on her albums Dianne Reeves and Bridges and produced her album Art and Survival.^{[19][20][21][22]}

During 2005, the Los Angeles Philharmonic commissioned Del Barrio to compose a symphonic jazz mass. "Misa Justa" was written for an orchestra, large choir, five jazz soloists, bass, and drums. Dianne Reeves,Billy Childs, Hubert Laws,Pal McCandless and Terence Blanchard made guest appearances at the concert, which premiered at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.^[23][24][25]

Del Barrio began his collaboration with Herb Alpert by composing four songs for his 1988 album Under a Spanish Moon. He composed and played on Alpert's North on South St.^[26] and worked as an orchestrator on Alpert's album Midnight Sun.^[27] Del Barrio then arranged, orchestrated, and played keyboards on Alpert's album Steppin' Out.^[28]Steppin' Out won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album in 2013.^[29] Herb Alpert signed Del Barrio to A&M, were he recorded his album Free Play.

Del Barrio worked as a composer, orchestrator, and keyboard player on Stan Getz's album Apasionado.^{[30][31][32][33]} The album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.^[34]

Awards and honors

• Grammy Award nomination, Best R&B Song, "Fantasy" by Earth, Wind & Fire, 1978^[15]

Discography

• Free Play (A&M, 1991)

References

1. "Eduardo Gutiérrez del Barrio". Hollywood Bowl. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
2. "2 Guitarists Seek Out the True-Blue Notes of Artistic Integrity and Audience Appeal". Los Angeles Times. 1989-08-25. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
3. Farbey, Roger (4 July 2019). "Caldera: Caldera/Sky Islands". jazzjournal.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
4. "Dianne Reeves". NEA. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
5. "Billboard's Recommended LPs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1978-09-02. p. 78.
6. Kovarsky, Jerry. "The Art of Synth Soloing: Larry Dunn". KeyboardMag. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
7. "Billboard Hot Soul Singles". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1977-01-22.
8. "Billboard Best Selling Jazz LPs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1978-10-28.
9. "Joey Bada$$'s 95 Til' Infinity' - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
10. "ACE Repertory". www.ascap.com. Retrieved 2020-03-24.
11. "Billboard's Top Singles: Soul". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1979-12-08. p. 66.
12. Williams, Chris (2012-11-21). "'That Groove Was Undeniable': Making Earth, Wind & Fire's 'All 'N All'". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
13. Vinyl Album: Earth, Wind And Fire - Powerlight (1983), retrieved 2020-09-12
14. January 2020, Bass Player Staff08. "Marcus Miller: Keep 'em Running". Bass Player. Retrieved 2020-03-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
15. "Eddie Del Barrio". grammy.com. The Recording Academy.
16. "Earth, Wind & Fire". grammy.com. The Recording Academy.
17. Downbeat Magazine. October 2011. p. 44.
18. 2018 Jazz Masters Playbill. National Endowment for the Arts.
19. Feather, Eonard (22 April 1994). "Jazz Album Reviews: Reeves Scores With an Ambitious Effort". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
20. Vitali, Marc; Thometz, Kristen (18 June 2015). "Jazz Great Brings "Enchantment" to Chicago". WTTW News. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
21. Aceves, Rusty (15 February 2018). "Dianne Reeves - Bridges". www.sfjazz.org. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
22. "Bridges - Dianne Reeves | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
23. Ginell, Richard S. (1 February 2005). "Dianne Reeves; Los Angeles Philharmonic". Variety. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
24. Quinn, Emily (29 January 2005). "Eduardo Gutierrez del Barrio's Misa Justa, a Symphonic Jazz Mass, Has Its World Premiere". Playbill. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
25. "'Misa Justa,' a Jazz/Classical Mass by Eduardo Gutierrez del Barrio - With Vocal Solos From Jazz Star Dianne Reeves - World Premieres Jan. 29 at Walt Disney Concert Hall". Top40-Charts.com. 20 January 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
26. Weiss, Shelly. "Music Publishing" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 14. (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-23.
27. Levenson, Jeff (24 October 1992). Herb Alpert Comes Clean on Jazz Leaning. pp. 18–. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
28. "Steppin' Out - Herb Alpert, Lani Hall". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
29. "Herb Alpert". GRAMMY.com. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
30. Giddins, Gary (15 November 2004). Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century. Oxford University Press. pp. 29–. ISBN 978-0-19-988262-5. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
31. May, Chris (6 October 2009). "Stan Getz: Apasionado". All About Jazz. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
32. Wilson, John S. (2 July 1990). "Jazz Festival; Stan Getz, Weaving His Moods". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
33. "Apasionado - Stan Getz | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
34. "Stan Getz". GRAMMY.com. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2020.