IJS & Greg Burrus Present Richard Baratta Sextet & Interview by CC Minton

Join Rutgers IJS and Gregory Burrus for an unforgettable night of music and movies with Richard Baratta in conversation with lifestyle advocate CC Minton, the President of Harlem World Magazine.

We invite you to join us as these dynamic individuals get together for another Music and More Series produced by Gregory Burrus Productions for Rutgers IJS. The session will open with conversationalist CC Minton and film producer Richard Baratta discussing lifestyles of the movies and music. We will proceed into some swinging movie music, jazz music and more led by Drummer Richard Baratta featuring stellar musicians Saxophnist - Craig Handy, Guitarist - Paul Bollenback, Bill O’Connell, Bassist - Mike Goetz and percussionist - Paul Rossman.

Wed May 7, 2025 7:30 PM in Clements Place in the Rutgers Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall

Richard Baratta was born into a musically oriented family in Poughkeepsie, NY in 1950. He began his musical journey at the age 12, playing saxophone, flute and drums, and eventually, exclusively drums. He played mostly jazz all through his teens.

After earning a BA in History from Wagner College in 1973, and after studying with Jack DeJohnette, Bob Moses and Steve Haas he moved to NYC in 1975 to pursue his musical career. From 1975 to 1984 Baratta played gigs and recorded in and out of NYC. Some of his bandmates and associations were with John Stubblefield, Joe Ford, Frank Strozier, Hal Galper, Mike Richmond, Saheb Sarbib, Dennis Irwin, Vernon Reid, Billy Bang, Jack Wilkens, Ryo Kawasaki, Jessica Hagedorn and the Gangster Choir, Guilherme Franco, Pe De Boi, Cyro Baptista, and a very memorable one day hit with Hank Mobley and then Johnny Hartman.

In 1984, Baratta decided to dramatically alter paths, and pursued a career in movie production. “Money was tight, the gigs were hard to come by, and I was getting married and wanted to raise a family. It was just time for a very difficult decision that had to be made. I looked back many times and terribly missed the joy in playing and the camaraderie with the musicians. It was a total about face, but I have no regrets, except missing the live performance.”

Since working on his his first film, Desperately Seeking Susan in 1984, Baratta has worked on over 50 movies, first as a Location Manager, then Unit Production Manager, and for the past 15 years as a Co-Producer and Executive Producer. A small sampling of his filmography includes, Academy Award nominated Joker Joaquin Phoenix winning the Best Actor Award, Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award nominated The Irishman, Dr.Strange, The Wolf of Wall Street, five Spiderman movies,Too Big To Fail, Smurfs, Taking Pelham 123, Across the Universe, Donnie Brasco, Working Girl, and Big.

For a full listing of Baratta’s film credits, visit IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0053102/

From December 2016 to the present he has played with Eric Alexander, Vincent Herring, Walter Blanding, Marcus Printup, Bruce Harris, Gerald Cannon, Bill O’Connell, Emmett Cohen, Jeb Patton, Steve Ash, Chris Pattishal, Mike LeDonne, Ray Gallon, Dave Kikoski Danny Nimmer, Jerry Weldon, Rogerio Bocatto, Paul Bollenback, Dave Stryker, Mike Goetz, Essiet Essiet, Yoshi Waki, and many others.

From the Superbowl, to the Obama White House, to becoming Best Kids Book author for Daddy's Greek Potato Pie and most recently launching Daddy's Greek Potato Ice Cream, CC Minton is a Lifestyle Strategist and New York City conversationalist who can tell you all about it and help others to reach their goals.

So who is CC Minton?

CC Minton is indeed a multifaceted trailblazer with a remarkable journey. She is an award-winning lifestyle advocate, author, New York City conversationalist and C-Suite Executive who has made significant contributions in various community engagement fields.

A few highlights about her:

CC Minton has been involved in several business and media ventures, including:

• Harlem World Magazine: Minton was appointed as the inaugural President of Harlem World Magazine, where she oversees business operations and strategic growth.
• House of Minton: She founded the House of Minton, a lifestyle brand that integrates work, home, and leisure into a cohesive philosophy.
• Stevenson and Moses Boxing for Life Corp: As the past president, she played a key role in expanding the organization and promoting boxing as a tool for youth development.
• NFL Super Bowl XLVIII Partnership:​A community leader that added an entrepreneurial focus to her work, CC tackled big business as a New York/New Jersey NFL Super Bowl XLVIII business connect partner contributing to event operations.

CC Minton is coming to Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies, Clements Place to interview Grammy Nominated Drummer Richard Baratta who is an American film maker, consultant and movie producer. Richard takes a hands-on approach with unit management as well as above the line production. He was charged in various capacities in notable films such as Desperately Seeking Susan, the Wolf Of Wall Street, Joker, the Irishman and more which you can find on his IMDB.

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Check out the livestream on the Clement's Place Jazz, IJS, and on our YouTube channel -

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf8W7q1qlz0yt5Ebcn4tkSQ

https://www.facebook.com/InstituteJazzStudies

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