Born: July 7, 1948 | Died: 1987 Primary Instrument: Piano
Jorge Dalto was an Argentine-born jazz pianist whose version of ''This Masquerade'' with the guitarist George Benson won a Grammy Award in 1976, he was the pianist arranger on Benson’s mega album “Breezin.’” Dalto was one of the principal keyboardists in the fusion movement of the era.
Jorge Dalto was born July 7, 1948, in Jorge Perez, Argentina. He studied piano in his home country and came to the United States in 1969. In 1973, he settled in New York, playing with Latin jazz groups such as Tito Puente's and the Machito Orchestra. He was the featured pianist on Dizzy Gillespie’s “Afro-Cuban Moods,” in 1975.
Shortly afterward, he became a member of his fellow countryman Gato Barbieri's group, and got involved in the mid-1970's fusion movement, which mixed jazz and rock. He appeared on albums of the period with artists as; Flora Purim, Spyro Gyra, Paquito D’ Rivera, Djaban, Eddie Daniels, Carmen McRae, Rubén Blades among others.
During the ‘80’s he was the leader of the InterAmerican Band which featured his wife Adela on vocals. He was also the pianist/arranger for the Percussion Jazz Ensemble consisting of top tier Latin musicians including timbale player Tito Puente, conga player Carlos “Patato” Valdes and violinist Alfredo De La Fe.
He released several excellent albums as pianist/arranger with an all star cast of musicians he called Super Friends. These included sax man David Sanborn, guitarists George Benson, and Eric Gale, with Steve Gadd and Buddy Williams as drummers, among others. This was just a partial lineup on the album “Rendevous” released in 1983.
In 1985 he put out “Urban Oasis,” with his InterAmerican Band, an excellent session emphasizing his strong latin roots and mastery of the genre.
A “Solo Piano,” was released in 1990, and “New York Nightlife” came out in 2007. These were reissues from albums that unfortunately did not have a wide release or market at the time of his death. His appreciation and prominence as an excellent Latin jazz pianist has only grown through the years.
