Obituaries : Jorge Dalto; Argentine Jazz Pianist Made Popular Album

Jazz pianist Jorge Dalto, who was featured on guitarist George Benson’s Grammy Award-winning “This Masquerade,� has died of cancer in New York City, his family said.

He was 39 and died in his sleep Tuesday night. His illness had kept him out of the music scene for more than a year.

Born in Argentina, Dalto studied piano in his home country and came to the United States in 1969. In 1973, he settled in New York, playing with such Latin jazz groups as Tito Puente’s Latin Jazz Ensemble and the Machito band.

Shortly afterward, he became a member of his countryman Gato Barbieri’s group and got involved in the fusion movement, a mix of jazz and rock.

Dalto played with one of that genre’s top groups, Spyro Gyra, and in 1976 he recorded with Benson “This Masquerade� in the album “Breezin,� which won a 1976 Grammy and sold 4 million copies around the world.

Dalto also played with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, Cuban saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera and flutist Dave Valentin and traveled extensively in the United States and Europe with various groups.