Ray “El Maestro” Santos

Ray Santos, known as “El Maestro” by his fans and fellow musicians and “Papi” by his family, passed away in the morning hours of October 17, 2019 in the Bronx, New York. 

Ray Santos was born December 28, 1928 in East Harlem, the only child of Carmen and Ramon Santos, a doorman and a doll maker, who moved from Puerto Rico to New York in search of a better future.  Over the span of his ninety years, Mr. Santos became a legend in the world of Latin music and left an indelible mark with his artistry.   

Mr. Santos’ love of music grew from the sounds of rhythmic jazz blaring from the record players of East Harlem.  At sixteen, he fell in love with the heavy, warm timbre of the tenor sax and decided to dedicate his life to music.  His passion for music and commitment to honing his craft earned him admittance to the prestigious Julliard School.  From Julliard, Mr. Santos’ musical career took flight and he soon earned esteem among the great musicians of the New York jazz club circuit. 

Mr. Santos was one of the leading authorities on Afro-Caribbean music.  Known for the layered complexity of his arrangements, for more than 50 years, Mr. Santos performed, composed, and arranged for the premiere Latin music orchestras, including the legendary ensembles of Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, Mario Bauza, and Machito.  As a saxophonist, Mr. Santos was a featured soloist on Machito’s critically-acclaimed recording, “Kenya”, including its titular song.

Mr. Santos’ skill as a composer and arranger made him a favorite partner for musical giants like Puente, Eddie Palmeri and Paquito D’Rivera, who worked with him on Grammy Award-winning projects and critically acclaimed masterworks into Mr. Santos’ last days. In 1992, Santos received critical acclaim for his compositions and arrangements for The Mambo Kings movie soundtrack, including his composition, “Sunny Ray”, and the Oscar-nominated song, “Beautiful Maria of My Soul.” In the same year, Santos collaborated with Linda Ronstadt on Frenesi, a tour-de force production that earned the Grammy Award for “Best Tropical Latin Album of the Year.” Most recently, Mr. Santos collaborated with Mr. Palmieri to arrange songs for his Grammy-nominated 2019 album, Mi Luz Mayor.

Mr. Santos’ venerable reputation extended from the concert hall to the lecture hall.  He was an esteemed music educator and professor of music at the City College of New York, where he taught for nearly 25 years and directed the college’s Latin Band. As an invaluable source of both experiential knowledge and creative impulses, Mr. Santos accepted frequent invitations to lecture at colleges and universities throughout the US, including Dartmouth College, Lehman College, and The New England Conservatory of Music.  In addition, Mr. Santos occupied the prestigious position of artist-in-residence at the SUNY Purchase College School of the Arts, Conservatory of Music and, in 2016 he was recognized with an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music.

In 1998, he was invited to be a special guest conductor for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at the landmark concert “Con Alma/Jazz with a Latin Tinge.”  Mr. Santos’ music captures what he describes as “the incessant, rhythmic drive of the Afro-Cuban sound, fused with the power and sonority of Big Band Jazz.” He lent this musical and historical knowledge to the production of Cachao: Uno Más (2008) - the documentary film about the quintessential Cuban bassist Israel “Cachao” López.

Among Mr. Santos’ numerous awards are the “Chico O’Farrill Lifetime Achievement Award” and the “Bobby Capo Lifetime Achievement Award”. In 2003, he was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame. In 2011, Mr. Santos was recipient of the Latin Grammy’s prestigious Trustees Award along with Manuel Alejandro and Jesus “Chucho” Ferrer. 

A musician, father, and teacher, Mr. Santos’ life was dedicated to the power of music to bring people together.  Throughout his rich and storied life, Mr. Santos used music to learn and share distinct histories, and to broaden and ignite the imaginations of everyone who knew him or heard his work. His legacy lives on in his music and in the hearts of the fans, students, artists, musicians, friends, and family who have been touched by his extraordinary life.