Gato Barbieri- latin jazz tenor sax – Last Tango in Paris. Tenor sax solo intro with the group joining in after a bit.
Gato Barbieri CDs

Leandro Barbieri was born November 28, 1934 in Rosario, Argentina and is known to most as “El Gato Barbieri.” He plays jazz tenor saxophone and also composes. In the 1960s he was part of the free jazz movement and in the 70s he recorded latin jazz. Barbieri had a family of musicians and was inspired to play upon hearing “Now’s the Time” by Charlie Parker.

Barbieri started on clarinet and then moved to alto saxophone. He played with Argentine pianist Lalo Schifrin in the late 1950s. After leaving Argentina for Rome he played tenor sax in the early 1960s with trumpeter Don Cherry. Influential players on Barbieri include Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Pharoah Sanders. His sound has been called “warm and gritty.”

Barbieri brought styles of South America into his music in the late 1960s and his score for Bernardo Bertolucci’s film ‘Last Tango in Paris’ earned him a Grammy and led to a record deal with Impulse! Records.

He was with A&M Records in the late 1970s, and began moving towards jazz-pop on records like “Caliente,” which included his most popular song, Carlos Santana’s Europa.

Gato Barbieri’s Mouthpiece was a metal Berg Larsen and he played a tenor Selmer Mark VI.