PAQUITO D'RIVERA

Candid Recording(s):

Who's Smoking Now(CCD 79823)

Biography:

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 Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna and Irakere whose explosive mixture of Jazz, Rock, Classical and traditional Cuban music had never been heard before, and in 1979, Irakere was awarded the Grammy as Best Latin Jazz Ensemble. In 1981, Mr. D’Rivera sought asylum in the United States, leaving his homeland. 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 the Simón Bolivar Symphonic Orchestra among others. With the Cuban National Symphony he premiered and or recorded 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 recipient of his second Grammy Award for 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.