Barry Rogers

Who was Barry Rogers?

Barry Rogers 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 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.