Richard Baratta

Richard Baratta is a New York drummer with two careers running through one life: he played the city's jazz scene from 1975 to 1984, then spent three decades as a film producer on more than fifty pictures, among them The Wolf of Wall Street, Doctor Strange, The Irishman, Joker and five Spider-Man films. Born in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1950, he studied with Jack DeJohnette, Bob Moses and Steve Haas, and in that first run on the scene worked alongside players including Hank Mobley, John Stubblefield, Billy Bang, Vernon Reid and Cyro Baptista. He returned to the bandstand in December 2016 and began recording as a leader for Savant, starting with Music in Film: The Reel Deal in 2020 and continuing with Music in Film: The Sequel in 2022 and Looking Back in 2025. His work leans to the Latin jazz side, and he leads the Gotham City Latin Jazz Septet as well as the smaller 3B's + 2, drawing on longtime collaborators including saxophonist Craig Handy and pianist Bill O'Connell.