Paquito D'Rivera

Cuban-born saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer Paquito D'Rivera, now based in New Jersey, has long maintained a distinguished path in Latin jazz while simultaneously earning acclaim as a classical composer and featured soloist. As one of the original members of Irakere and Dizzy Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra, he has led more than thirty recordings under his own name and appeared on countless others. His saxophone sound remains warmly lyrical, richly resonant, and deeply communicative. Among the illustrious artists with whom he has collaborated are Bebo Valdes, Yo Yo Ma, and Lalo Schifrin. Following his departure from Cuba, his first U.S. release, Blowin', came out in 1981. Celebration, issued in 1988, coincided with his naturalization as an American citizen; Tropicana Nights captured a Grammy in 1999; and Brazilian Dreams, released in 2002, seamlessly integrated jazz, Latin, and Brazilian elements. On the 2010 recording Panamericana Suite he directed an orchestra that combined classical, jazz, and folk instruments, earning widespread international praise. In 2022 he reunited with his former Irakere colleague, pianist Chucho Valdés, for the album I Missed You Too!.

He absorbed his foundational grasp of music from his father, Tito, a classical saxophonist and conductor. At five he started receiving instruction in musical theory from him, and within twelve months he had advanced sufficiently to begin earning professional fees. By seven he became the youngest endorser of a musical instrument when he signed with Selmer saxophones. Three years afterward he appeared with Havana's National Theater Orchestra. Although he first concentrated on soprano saxophone, he later adopted the alto after mastering the instrument through self-study of the Jimmy Dorsey Saxophone Method: A School of Rhythmic Saxophone Playing. In 1960 he deepened his technical and theoretical knowledge by enrolling at the Havana Conservatory of Music. By 1965 he had become a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra, and his initial solo album, Instrumental, appeared in 1967. After service with the Cuban Army Band he helped pianist Chucho Valdés establish the Orchestra Cubana de Musica Moderna, serving as its conductor for two years.

In 1973, D'Rivera and eight fellow members of that orchestra founded Irakere, a band that merged jazz, rock, classical, and traditional Cuban idioms. The ensemble became the first post-Castro Cuban group to secure a contract with an American label, Columbia. Touring extensively, Irakere rose to prominence as one of the leading jazz ensembles of its era. D'Rivera issued a second album under his own name in 1976. Irakere's self-titled debut followed in 1978 and earned a Grammy the next year, the same year the group performed at the landmark Havana Jam, whose recordings were released in 1980.

D'Rivera defected from Cuba to the United States in 1981. Soon afterward he began working with American musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, David Amram, and Mario Bauza. Bauza himself observed that D'Rivera was “the only musician I know on the scene playing the real Latin jazz, all the others are playing Afro-Cuban jazz.”

His first North American solo album, Blowin', reached stores in June 1981 and was succeeded a year later by Mariel. Time magazine noted that “the bopped-up, romantic, salty and sensuous jazz that he makes recognizes no real political boundary. It has its roots equally in the hothouse Latin rhythms of his homeland and in the high-flying horns of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Lee Konitz.” Between 1983 and 1987 he placed five further Columbia albums on the charts, among them Live at Keystone Korner, Why Not!, Explosion, and Manhattan Burn. His final Columbia project, Celebration, appeared in 1988 to mark his attainment of U.S. citizenship seven years after his arrival.

That same year Dizzy Gillespie invited him to join the founding roster of the fifteen-piece United Nations Orchestra. He also appeared as guest soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of Roger Kellaway's David Street Blues. He maintained an active schedule across multiple ensembles, including the Paquito D'Rivera Big Band, the Paquito D'Rivera Quintet, the chamber group Triangulo, and the Caribbean Jazz Project, while beginning to accept commissions for chamber and orchestral works. In 1989 he composed “New York Suite” for the Gerald Danovich Saxophone Quartet and issued his Chesky debut, Tico! Tico!. Later that year Town Crier released the Latin- and bossa-infused Return to Ipanema. Reunion, a 1991 Messidor recording, featured guest soloist Arturo Sandoval alongside Giovanni Hidalgo, Danilo Perez, and Fareed Haque. Havana Cafe, released the following year, retained most of the same personnel. In 1994 D'Rivera wrote “Aires Tropicales” for the Aspen Wind Quintet, a piece that has since been performed by numerous ensembles.

Portraits of Cuba earned D'Rivera a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Performance in 1997. That year he also collaborated with the Caribbean Jazz Project on Island Stories and issued Live at MCG with the United Nations Orchestra, together with the original classical recording Chamber Music from the South, on which he performed exclusively on clarinet. During the summer of 1999 he joined Germany's Chamber Orchestra Werneck for the concert series D'Rivera Meets Mozart. He served as artist-in-residence for the New Jersey Performing Arts Commission and as artistic director of jazz programming for the New Jersey Chamber Music Society. He also released Tropicana Nights, directing a big band through a program of Latin jazz and dance forms. His autobiography, My Saxual Life, was published by Seix Barral, which also issued his novel En Tus Brazos Morenos shortly thereafter.

Live at the Blue Note appeared in spring 2000, followed in early 2001 by the Enja sextet date Habanera. That year he issued The Clarinetist, Vol. 1, an album devoted entirely to the woodwind. Brazilian Dreams, recorded live in 2002 with the New York Voices and trumpeter Claudio Roditi, received a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album. Big Band Time, released in 2003, entered the Top 200. Several additional well-received projects appeared in 2004, including Music of Both Worlds, Tribute to Cal Tjader, and Riberas, the latter of which captured the Latin Grammy for Best Classical Album. The Grammy-nominated Jazz Chamber Trio followed in 2005. Funk Tango, issued in 2007, incorporated the tango innovations of composer/bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla into Latin and Brazilian jazz frameworks and likewise won a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album. Two years later he recorded Jazz Clazz with clarinetist Sabine Meyer.

Panamericana Suite, released live in 2010, stands as an original composition widely regarded as his magnum opus; it secured two Latin Grammys, for Best Latin Jazz Album and Best Classical Contemporary Composition, making D'Rivera the first and only artist to receive awards in both categories. In 2012 he collaborated with Paraguayan classical guitarist Berta Rojas on Día y Medio: A Day and a Half. Songs for Maura, a Brazilian-themed trio album released in 2013 as a tribute to his mother, earned the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album. Jazz Meets the Classics appeared the next year, blending jazz and classical idioms through adventurous reinterpretations of works by Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, and others.

Aires Tropicales, issued in 2016, featured D'Rivera with the Quinteto Cimarron string quartet. That same year he explored the music of Mexican singer, pianist, and composer Armando Manzanero on Paquito & Manzanero. In 2017 he released Kites Over Havana with a quartet of Cuban master saxophonists residing in the United States: Oscar Gongora on soprano, Roman Filiu on alto and soprano, Alejandro Rios on alto and tenor, and Raul Cordies on baritone. He appeared as featured soloist on the Diego Urcola Quartet's El Duelo in 2020. Cariberian, recorded with a sextet, was released in February 2021. In July 2022 he rejoined his longtime associate, pianist Chucho Valdés, and a sextet for I Miss You Too!.