Barry Rogers

Barry Rogers (May 22, 1935 - April 18, 1991) was a salsa musician and jazz fusion trombonist. Born Barron W. Rogers in The Bronx, he descended from Polish Jews who came to New York City via London and was raised in Spanish Harlem. His family (original name: Rogenstein) possessed a strong musicality; his father and several of his uncles sang in the choir of notable hazzan Joseph Rosenblatt, and his mother had taught in Africa, Mexico, and elsewhere which inspired an interest in music from other nations. In addition to this foundation, the mambo and jazz genres were simply popular in the neighborhood. As a student of the playing of jazz trombonists Jack Teagarden, Lawrence Brown and J. C. Higginbotham, Rogers began to play Latin music in the mid-1950s and would be most associated with it from then on. He developed his style working with Eddie Palmieri. Willie Colón regarded Rogers as his strongest musical influence, and would feature him in many of his productions. Bobby Valentín would feature Rogers in his classic song El Jíbaro y la Naturaleza, which lead then-singer Marvin Santiago to nickname him "El Terror de los Trombones" for the record (Rogers' trombone tone was regarded as one of the loudest in salsa music). Rogers worked with musicians such as Palmieri, Machito, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Cheo Feliciano, Johnny Pacheco, Manny Oquendo, Chino Rodriguez, the Fania All-Stars, and many more. Although fundamentally known as a salsa trombonist, as a studio recording musician, he collaborated with jazz, soul and pop luminaries. A founding member of the jazz-rock band Dreams, which included the brothers Michael and Randy Brecker and Billy Cobham, he also performed with James Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Todd Rundgren, Grover Washington, Jr., Ron Carter, George Benson, Carly Simon, David Byrne, Bob James, Spyro Gyra, Bob Moses, Elton John and Don Grolnick, among others.

Rogers died of natural causes in his Washington Heights, Manhattan home at the age of 55.

Discography
With Alegre All Stars
 * The Alegre All Stars (Alegre, 1961)
 * Vol. 3 - Lost and Found (Alegre, 1963)
 * Vol. 4 - Way Out (Alegre, 1964)

With Eddie Palmieri
 * La Perfecta (Alegre, 1961)
 * El Molestoso (Alegre, 1962)
 * Lo que Traigo es Sabroso (Alegre, 1963)
 * Echando Pa'lante (Tico, 1964)
 * Azúcar pa' ti (Tico, 1965)
 * Mozambique (Tico, 1966)
 * Molasses (Tico, 1967)
 * El Sonido Nuevo (with Cal Tjader) (Verve, 1967)
 * Bamboléate (with Cal Tjader) (Tico, 1967)
 * Champagne (TIco, 1968)
 * Sentido (Coco, 1973)
 * The Sun of Latin Music (Coco, 1974)
 * Unfinished Masterpiece (Coco, 1975)
 * Eddie Palmieri (Música Latina, 1981)

With Dreams With Fania All Stars
 * Dreams (1970)
 * Imagine My Surprise (1971)
 * Live at Cheetah 1 (Fania, 1971)
 * Live At Cheetah 2 (Fania, 1971)
 * Live at Yankee Stadium Vol. 1 (Fania, 1974)
 * Live at Yankee Stadium Vol. 2 (Fania, 1974)
 * Salsa (Fania, 1975)
 * Tribute to Tito Rodríguez (Fania, 1976)

With Todd Rundgren
 * Something/Anything? (1972)
 * A Wizard, a True Star (1973)

With Orquesta Broadway
 * Pasaporte (Coco, 1975)

With Mark Dimond With Don Sebesky With Ron Carter
 * Beethoven's V (Cotique, 1975)
 * The Rape of El Morro (CTI, 1975)
 * Anything Goes (Kudu, 1975)

With Conjunto Libre
 * Con Salsa, con Ritmo (Salsoul, 1976)
 * Con Salsa, con Ritmo Vol. 2 - Tiene Calidad (Salsoul, 1978)

With Lalo Schifrin
 * Black Widow (CTI, 1976)

With Herbie Mann
 * Brazil: Once Again (Atlantic, 1978)
 * Sunbelt (Atlantic, 1979)