Biography and Photos - Courtesy of Paquito's Website
Beginnings
Born in the island of Cuba, Paquito D’Rivera began his career as a child
prodigy, playing both the clarinet and the saxophone with the Cuban National
Symphony Orchestra He eventually went on to premier several works by notable
Cuban composers with the same Orchestra.
A restless musical genius, Mr. D’Rivera formed and performed with various
musical ensembles as a teenager and became one of the founding members of the
Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, which he subsequently conducted for two
years and was also founding member and co-director of the innovative musical
group Irakere, whose explosive mixture of jazz, rock, classical and
traditional Cuban music had never been heard before. The group toured
extensively throughout America and Europe, won several Grammy nominations and
a Grammy.
Awards and Grammys
Most recently the Jazz Journalists Association awarded Mr. D’Rivera the
Clarinet of the Year 2004 award, after receiving several nominations.
In May of 2003, he received a Doctorate Honoris Causa in Music, from the
Berklee School of Music, adding this to his many numerous awards including a
Lifetime Achievement Award for his Contribution to Latin Music along with
Dizzy Gillespie and Gato Barbieri. In addition to his awards and recognitions,
including six Grammys, Paquito makes history for being the frist artist to win
Latin Grammies in both Classical and Latin Jazz categories, for Stravinsky’s
"Historia del Soldado" and
"Bazilian Dreams" with New York
Voices in 2003, the other historic recipient is Wynton Marsalis.
In 1996, he received a Grammy for his highly acclaimed recording,
“Portraits of Cuba.” in 2000 for
his “Tropicana Nights”, along
with a nomination in the classical category for his
“Music of Two Worlds”, featuring
compositions by Schubert, Brahms, Guastavino, Villa Lobos, and by Mr. D’Rivera
himself. In 2001 Grammy for his Quintet’s recording of
“Live at the Blue Note.” He was
also nominated in the Classical Crossover category for
“The Clarinetist Vol. I.” In 2002,
he won again as a guest artist on the recording of the Bebo Valdes Trio.
Classical Music and
Ensembles
While Paquito’s discography includes over 30 solo albums in Jazz, Bebop and
Latin music, his contributions to classical music are impressive. They include
solo performances with the National Symphony Orchestra, and with Brooklyn
Philharmonic, the London Royal Symphony, and the Florida Philharmonic
Orchestra. He has also performed with the Bronx Arts Ensemble, the St. Luke’s
Chamber Orchestra, the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, the Costa Rican
National Symphony, and the Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Paquito also keeps busy by frequently touring around the world with his
ensembles: the Chamber Jazz Ensemble, the Paquito D’Rivera Big Band and the
Paquito D’Rivera Quintet, and in the 2005 begins touring with the guitar duo
of Sergio and Odair Assad, in "Dances from the New World" In his quest to
bring the Latin repertoire into the forefront of the classical arena, Paquito
has successfully created, championed and promoted all types of classical
compositions, including three chamber pieces composed by Paquito, recently
recorded by Yo-Yo Ma and Paquito, live at Zankell Hall, Carnegie Hall,
September, 2003.
Composer
In addition to his extraordinary performing career as an instrumentalist,
Paquito has rapidly gained a reputation as an accomplished composer. His works
often reveals his versatility and widespread influences, which range from
Afro-Cuban to the dance hall, to influences encountered in his many travels,
and back to his classical origins.
In 2002, Paquito was commissioned by The National Symphony Orchestra and the
Rotterdam Philharmonic, to write a concerto “Gran Danzon” (The Bel Air
Concerto) for the acclaimed flutist Marina Piccinini under the baton of
Maestro Leonard Slatkin at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
………..… "Best that night was Paquito
D’Rivera’s, ‘Gran Danzón’ (The Bel Air Concerto) in its world premiere. A
spiky and imaginatively colored piece of Latin American orchestral writing…”
(Joe Banno, Washington Post, February 11, 2002).
“Gran Danzon” dazzling work……….reveals
D’Rivera’s sophistication as a composer.." (L. Peat O’Neal
Washington Post, June 3, 2002).
Other premieres include pieces for the Turtle Island String Quartet, The Ying
String Quartet, and the International Double Reed Congress 30th Anniversary in
Canada. In 2002, The Library of Congress also commissioned Paquito for a
Jazz Fantasy for Piano and Violin.
Jazz at Lincoln Center commissioned Paquito’s
“Panamericana Suite” for their
“As of Now” series in 2000. It
premiered and was recorded for the National Public Radio.
………………."The centerpiece of the concert was
La Jicotea a newly commissioned work composed by D’Rivera for the Turtle
Island String Quartet. Well-crafted … the piece simmered with bits and pieces
of Latin rhythms as the brief, but attractive, principal theme arched through
flowing contrapuntal passages. As a showcase work, it will serve the TISQ well
in future appearances. The most appealing segments of the program however were
those in which D’Rivera performed with the quartet. the combination of
clarinet and string quartet usually referred to as a Clarinet Quintet…"
(Don Heckman Los Angeles Times, 2002).
In 1999, the Kammer Orchester Schloss Werneck presented a series titled
Paquito & Mozart, featuring his chamber compositions, alongside those of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It culminated in Paquito’s piece entitled “Adagio”,
which features elements of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.
……………."The orchestra as well as the
soloist executed the work with perfect intonation and precise interpretation.
At no time came the impression that two different musical worlds were
colliding. The concert was an offering of excellence by virtue of the soloist
and the orchestra, led by Ulf Klautsenitzer. With a focused tone and
intonation, he effortlessly graced through the various registers unwavering."
By: Peter Linhart Main – Echo Aschaffenburg Kultur, Montag, June 1999.
His “Rivers,” a Poetic Suite,
premiered in 1998 for the 25th anniversary Opening Concert of the New Jersey
Chamber Music Society. In 1994, The Aspen Wind Quintet also commissioned and
premiered his suite “Aires Tropicales”
at New York’s Frick Collection in 1994. “Aires” is now the mainstay of many
other important wind ensembles such as the New York Wind Quintet and has been
often recorded. He has also written and arranged other chamber works, which
have also become the standard repertory of many international ensembles such
as The Caracas Clarinet Quartet, Cuarteto Latinoamericano and Quinteto D’Elas.
The Gerald Danovich Saxophone Quartet from Montreal, after performing several
of Paquito’s works, commissioned and then recorded his acclaimed
“New York Suite” in 1989.
More Reviews
………………..”Cuban reed player Paquito D'
Rivera has a foot in the classical world and a foot in the jazz world—and each
foot is atop its respective world. With the Milwaukee Symphony Pops, he
brought the two together in a thrilling and astonishing survey of music by
George Gershwin. He did not so much bend Gershwin to his will as reconsider
him in various lights. D’Rivera, switching between clarinet and alto
saxophone……… The whole substantial set from Porgy and Bess was a fantastical
journey among idioms. The pinnacle of it was the famous love duet. “Bess, You
Is My Woman Now”…..D’Rivera spinning circles around Porgy’s part. Note that as
spectacularly virtuoso as D’Rivera was here, his part fit the whole
beautifully. He’s no show –off; he balanced his part with the singer and the
orchestra to make a beautiful whole. He has a concept that is bigger than his
own voice, he hears the big picture..." (Tom Strioni Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel Music Critic, April 21, 2002).
……………"The Second half became a Paquito
D’Rivera show. Mr. D’Rivera, a gifted saxophonist and clarinetist has became
the man to call if you want a concert-hall presentation of Pan-Latin music.
All in rich Carnegie Hall-style arrangements . . . Mr. D’Rivera is a
formidable musician, and in his clarinet playing, with lovely, clear low
registers and never a squeaked high note. He was at his best…"
(Ben Ratliff -New York Times, Saturday November 3, 2001).
Artist in Residence and
Director
Mr. D’Rivera is an Artist in Residence at New Jersey Performing Arts Center
and serves as member of the board of director of many important artistic
organizations in the US that influence classical and jazz styles alike. For
ten years, Mr. D’Rivera has been Artistic Director of the famous world-class
Festival International de Jazz en el Tambo in Uruguay. Paquito’s guests have
included such luminaries as McCoy Tyner, James Moody, Phil Woods and many
more.
