Composers
Paquito D'Rivera
Born in Havana Cuba, Grammy Award winner D’Rivera was a child prodigy who was playing the clarinet and the saxophone and performing with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra at a very early age. He founded the Orchesta Cubana de Musica Moderna and Irakere whose explosive mixture of Jazz, Rock, Classical and traditional Cuban music had never been heard before. In 1981, Mr. D’Rivera sought asylum in the United States, leaving his homeland forever. His numerous recordings have received rave reviews and hit the top of the Jazz charts. With his ensembles; Triangulo, devoted exclusively to chamber music, the Paquito D’Rivera Big Band and the Paquito D’Rivera Quintet he tours throughout the world. His appearances in classical venues include solo performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Lukes, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, the Florida Philharmonic, the Costa Rican National Symphony Orchestra and Simon Bolivar Symphonic Orchestra among others, and with the Cuban National Symphony premiered several works by the foremost contemporary Cuban composer Leo Brower. In 1991 Mr.D’Rivera received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Latin music, along with Dizzy Gillespie and Gato Barbieri, and in 1997 became the recipient of his second Grammy Award with record, the highly acclaimed, "Portraits of Cuba."
Since his defection from Cuba, Paquito D’Rivera has taken command of his
role as a cross-cultural ambassador, creating and promoting a multinational style
that moves from Bebop to Latin to Mozart. Throughout his career in the United
States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America D’Rivera’s works have received
rave reviews from the critics. D’Rivera is becoming increasingly well-known
for his compositions in addition to his extraordinary performing career. His
music shows his versatility and wide-ranging influences, from Afro-Cuban ritual
melodies to the music of the dance halls, through rhythms encountered in his
wide-ranging travels to his origins as a "classical" performer.
In this quest to bring the Latin-American repertoire into the forefront of
the so-called "classical arena" Paquito D’Rivera has created, favored
and promoted with success all types of musical classical compositions with elements
from South of the Border. This upcoming summer 1999, the Chamber Orchestra Werneck
(based in Germany) presents a series titled the music D’Rivera Meets Mozart,
featuring Paquito’s chamber compositions, alongside those of Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart, and which culminates in a piece written by Paquito featuring the 2nd
movement of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, entitled "Adagio." The Gerald
Danovich saxophone Quartet from Montreal, after performing several of Paquito’s
works, decided to commission and then recorded his acclaimed "New York Suite" in
1989. The Aspen Wind Quintet, also commissioned and premiered his suite "Aires
Tropicales", at the Frick Collection, in New York City, in April 1994, and
is already part of the repertoire of many other important wind quintets including
the renowned New York Wind Quintet, and has been recorded by at least four chamber
quintets.
Paquito continues to receive commissions and also written and arranged other chamber pieces which are part of the repertory of ensembles such as The Caracas Clarinet Quartet, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Quinteto D’Elas, and many other chamber ensembles throughout the world. His "Rivers", a Poetic suite was premiered Sept. 25th, 1998 for the 25th anniversary Opening Concert of the New Jersey Chamber Music Society and was received so well that he was invited to present it at the NJPAC, in an expanded orchestrated version (also by Mr. D’Rivera). Presently Mr. D’Rivera is Artist in Residence at NJPAC and Artistic Director for Jazz Programming of the New Jersey Chamber Music Society, sits on the Board of Directors of Chamber Music International, and has just been nominated to sit on the bard of Chamber Music America.
For the last four years, Mr. D’Rivera has been Artistic Director of the famous world-class "Festival International de jazz en el Tambo" now in it’s fifth year in Punta del Este, Uruguay. This past year Mr. D"Rivera’s guests included such luminaries as McCoy Tyner, James Moody, and Chico Hamilton. For the year 2000, Jazz at Lincoln Center has commissioned Paquito to write a piece for their "As of Now" series, to be premiered and recorded and also to be broadcast on National Public Radio. This piece is tentatively called the Pan American Suite.
A gifted writer, Mr. D’Rivera’s "My Saxual Life" is being published by the prestigious Spanish literary house Seix Barral with a prologue by the distinguished author Guillermo Cabrera Infante, and his novel "En Tus Brazos Morenos" will soon follow. Mr. D’Rivera will be guest artist at the White House on June 2nd 1999, and shortly after that (June 8th) will fly to Spain to receive a special honorary award by Universidad de Alcala de Henares, (for its 500 years celebration) recognizing his contribution to the arts, his humane qualities, and his defense for rights and liberty of artists. This honor will be presented on Tuesday June 8th. And on July 14th Paquito will perform at the Kennedy Center as featured guest artist in the historical "Americanos" concert, hosted by James Olmos, to be broadcast by PBS all over the country. Paquito’s discography includes over 24 solo albums, which demonstrates his extraordinary abilities in Bebop, classical and Latin/Caribbean music.
Some reviews on Mr. D’Rivera…..
….. At least Paquito D’Rivera’s sax and clarinet solos in both musical styles allowed him to reveal his flawless facility. Whether playing Bach or post-bop his mastery of the instruments and their expressive capabilities was unquestionable…..Paul Somers, Classical New Jersey 1997
….. PaquitoD’Rivera shone in a jazz version of the second movement of Mozart Clarinet Concerto, complete with solo cadenza that wove together snippets of Mozart melodies with patches of blues’flavored notes., in another work, Bach tunes meshed provocatively with samba rhythm…..Linda Tyler The Star Ledger, 1997
…..Paquito D’Rivera is one of the woodwind giants of our time, two characteristics are his awesome virtuosity on his favorite instruments, the alto sax and clarinet…..Tom Jacobsen, JAZZ TIMES, April 1992
….. Paquito displays his woodwind wizardry on the clarinet and also…D’Rivera’s clarinet playing is unique…the sounds are truly sublime…..JAZZ TIMES, March 1993
To quote the great Mario Bauza,….. "Paquito D’Rivera is the only musician I know on the scene playing the real Latin-jazz, all others are playing Afro-Cuban jazz."….. a tour-de-force for one musician, the great altoist Paquito D’Rivera.
….. D’Rivera has been one of the finest alto-saxophonists in jazz during the past decade in addition to having his own style on clarinet…..CODA MAGAZINES, Jan/Feb. 1995 (Canada)
….. A high profile figure, Paquito has been featured in a four page People magazine article, Time magazine, covers on important magazines such as JAZZ TIMES, WINDPLAYER, JAZZ HOT, SAXOPHONE JOURNAL, JAZZ EDUCATORS JOURNAL, and many more.
….. "Paquito D’Rivera may sound like a propagandist’s dream, but the bopped-up, romantic, salty and sensuous jazz that he makes recognizes no real political boundary. It has roots equally in the hothouse Latin rhythms of his homeland and in the highflying horns of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Lee Konitz…..Jay Cocks, TIME
….. Paquito as soloist offered an interpretation impeccable in the technical aspect, and musically sensitive of the Concertino for Clarinet and Orchestra, by Guerrero…after intermission, Paquito D’Rivera and his quintet, sometimes accompanied by the strings, trombones and trumpets of the NSO ( National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica) conducted by Pablo Zinger, performed selections from their repertoire: some showing the fusion of Jazz and Caribbean rhythms…offered as an encore by Paquito, each instrumentalist taking run in brilliant improvisations, to end up in "tutti" with a tremendous "coda" based on a Prelude by that great "Jazz musician" before his time…Johann Sebastian Bach…..music review by Andres Saens, LA NACION, San Jose, Costa Rica.
