Paquito D’ Rivera, winner of 16 awards between Grammys and Latin Grammys, and with numerous recognitions for his relevance in Latin Jazz and as a composer of classical music, was born on June 4, 1948, in Marianao, Havana, Cuba. Saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and writer, El Paq-Man – as he is known among his many friends, colleagues, and fans, is passionate about both jazz and classical music, Brazilian music, rumba, tangos, etc., and One of the main objectives of his work is to make them all an integral whole.
Early Years
Son of the Cuban classical saxophonist Tito Rivera, Paquito began studying music with him when he was only five years old, and at seven he was already a kind of child prodigy who performed in public. At that age he began his relationship with the famous French company Selmer, whose instruments his father imported to Cuba. At the age of ten, Paquito played accompanied by the orchestra of the National Theater of Cuba and studied at the Alejandro G. Caturla Conservatory in Marianao.
At 17 he was a founding member of the Cuban Modern Music Orchestra, while frequently playing clarinet and saxophone with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, performing the works of prominent Cuban and foreign composers. For two years, D’Rivera conducted the Cuban Modern Music Orchestra, and was one of the seminal founders, along with Chucho and Oscar Valdés, of the famous band ‘Irakere’, which stood out for its explosive and innovative mix of jazz, rock, classical and traditional Cuban music. ‘Irakere’ toured around the world, garnered several Grammy nominations, and received one in 1979.
For his part, his multiple recordings include more than 40 solo albums. In 1988, Paquito D’Rivera was a founding member of the ‘United Nation Orchestra’, a 15-piece band organized by Dizzy Gillespie, to present the fusion of Latin and Caribbean influences with jazz. ‘The United Nation Orchestra’ won a Grammy in 1991, the same year D’ Rivera was honored at Carnegie Hall for his contribution to Latin music. Due to their variety and eclecticism, D’Rivera’s three groups, ‘The Chamber Jazz Ensemble’, ‘Paquito D’Rivera Big Band’ and ‘Paquito D’Rivera Quintet’ have been acclaimed and applauded around the world.
Performer and Composer of Classical Music
At the same time that his discography is enthusiastically dedicated to jazz, Be-Bop, Brazilian music and Latin American styles in general, Paquito also successfully ventures into classical music. In this way, he also stands out as a soloist in concerts and recordings with the London Philharmonic, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the United States National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the WDR Symphony, the Florida Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic of Brooklyn, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, the Costa Rica National Symphony, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the ADDA Orchestra, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, and the St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta de Minerias, among others. In his passion for giving the Latin repertoire greater relevance, D’Rivera has successfully created, defended, and promoted all types of compositions for classically trained ensembles and soloists, including his three Chamber works recorded in a live concert, along with the distinguished cellist Yo-Yo Ma (2003). With the chamber work ‘Merengue’, recorded live at Zankel Hall and released by Sony Records, D’Rivera won his seventh Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 2004.
The powerful publisher ‘Boosey and Hawkes’ is busy publishing the entire catalog of his compositions. In recognition of his compositional skills, he was awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2007), and was named, from 2007-2008, Composer-in-Residence of the Caramoor Music and Arts Center, with the Orchestra of St .Luke. As part of Caramoor’s Latin American musical initiative, Sonidos Latinos, his concerto for double bass and clarinet/saxophone, ‘Conversations with Cachao’, pays tribute to legendary Cuban bassist Israel ‘Cachao’ López.
The “Paq-Man” works reveal his broad and eclectic musical interests, and his numerous commissions include music for Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Ying String Quartet, the International Double Reed Society, Syracuse University, and the Kennedy Center in Washington. Another commission came through the dynamic wind quintet ‘Imani Winds’, for whom he composed ‘Kites’, a work that embodies a broad view of independence and personal freedom. D’Rivera is the author of several literary works: ‘My Sax Life’ (1999), published by Northwestern University Press; the funny and nostalgic novel ‘Oh, Havana!’ (2004), published by MT Editores (Barcelona), ‘To be or not to be, that’s the joke!’ (2010) by Ediciones Universal and ‘Letters to Yeyito: Lessons from a Life in Music’.
As a producer, Paquito is proud to have recorded pianist Bebo Valdés – exiled in Sweden since 1960 – In 1994, after more than 3 decades absent from recording studios. The album “Bebo Rides Again” served as a great impetus to bring “Caballón” back to the ring, as the legendary Cuban musician was affectionately called.
Awards
He was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award in 2005 and the National Medal of the Arts (2005), as well as the Kennedy Center’s Living Jazz Legend Award (2007). Among his recognitions are the Honoris Causa doctorate from the Berklee School in Boston, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Clarinetist of the Year award from the Jazz Journalist Association (2004 and 2006). In 2008, he received the award from the Association for Jazz Education Present and the Frankfurter Musikpreis (Germany).
In 2010, he was named Nelson A Rockefeller Honoree and given the Spelman College African American Classical Music Award. In 2011, he received his eleventh Grammy Award, for ‘Panamericana Suite’ for Best Latin Album and Best Contemporary Classical Composition, adding it to his previous Grammy Awards for ‘Riberas’ (Best Classical Recording 2005) and ‘Funk Tango’ (Best Music Album). Latin Jazz 2008). His “Concerto Venezolano” for Symphony Orchestra, written for trumpet extraordinaire Soloist Pacho Flores, was awarded Best Contemporary Classical composition in 2023.
Paquito D’Rivera is the first artist to win Latin Grammys in the classical music and Latin jazz categories, for ‘Historia del Soldado’ (L’Histoire du Soldat), ‘Stravinsky’ (2003) and ‘Brazilian Dreams’ (2002) with The New York Voices.
He has been artistic director of the jazz program of the New Jersey Chamber Music Society, the Jazz Patagonia of Chile, and from 1996 to date has served as musical director of the prestigious International Jazz Festival of Punta del Este, Uruguay, presenting luminaries of the genre such as Benny Golson, McCoy Tyner, Michael Brecker, Toots Thielemans, Jon Faddis, Lenny Andrade, Kenny Burrell and many more artists.
In 1999, the University of Alcalá de Henares, in celebration of its 500 years of history, presented D’Rivera with a special award that recognizes his contribution to the arts, his human qualities and his defense of the rights and freedoms of artists around the world. The National Endowment for the Arts on its website highlights that Paquito “has become an accomplished multinational ambassador, creating and promoting a musical interculturality that moves effortlessly between jazz, Latin music and Mozart.”
After many years separated, in 2022 Paquito D’ Rivera took the stage again with Chucho Valdés, who he considers to be, along with his father and teacher, the most important influence on his musical career. And together they have recorded their 2023 Latin-Grammy award-winning CD titled “I Missed You Too!”
