- Ray Mantilla
Raymond Mantilla (b. June 22, 1934,
New York City ) is an American jazz drummer.Mantilla played in New York from the 1950s, inspired by
Afro-Cuban jazz . He played with a number oflatin jazz ensembles in the 1950s, including theLa Playa Sextet ,Xavier Cugat ,Lou Perez ,Rene Touzet ,Miguelito Valdez , andMonguito Conjunto . He played behindEartha Kitt in 1955. In 1960 he toured withHerbie Mann and recorded withMax Roach . He recorded withAl Cohn in 1961, and recorded withFreddie Hubbard ,Buddy Rich , andLarry Coryell in the 1960s. From 1963 to 1969 Mantilla led his own band inPuerto Rico , and in 1970 he became a founding member of Roach's percussion ensemble,M'Boom .He was a member of
Art Blakey 's Jazz Messengers in the 1970s, during which time the ensemble toured the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Following this he recorded withGato Barbieri ,Joe Farrell (1974),Richie Cole ,Don Pullen (1976-77),Charles Mingus (1977-78),Walter Bishop, Jr. , andMorgana King (1979). He touredCuba withDizzy Gillespie in 1977.In 1979 he founded his own ensemble, the Ray Mantilla Space Station, and through the '80s toured or recorded with
Muhal Richard Abrams ,Kenny Burrell ,Shirley Scott , andWarren Chiasson . In 1991 he put together a new ensemble, the Jazz Tribe.Discography
*"Mantilla" (
Inner City Records , 1978)
*"Hands of Fire" (Red Records , 1984)
*"Synergy" (Red, 1986)
*"Dark Powers" (Red, 1988)
*"The Next Step" (Red, 2000)
*"Man-Ti-Ya" (Savant Records , 2004)
*"Good Vibrations" (Savant, 2006)References
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fifpxq85ldhe~T1 Ray Mantilla] at
Allmusic
*Leonard Feather andIra Gitler , "The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz". Oxford, 1999, p. 433.
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