D’Rivera crosses borders musical and political

November 24, 2006

By MARY T. NGUYEN of the Tribune’s staff
Published Friday, November 24, 2006

Listen to Paquito D'Rivera with your eyes closed, and you can envision deep shades of blue intermingled with strokes and flashes of bright oranges, flamingo pinks and solar yellows.

The Cuban saxophonist and clarinetist plays classical and jazz pieces with a spirit that transcends national borders - so much so that it has granted the 58-year-old musician the opportunity to play with such heavyweights as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz and Yo-Yo Ma.

D'Rivera has played all over the globe, but his passion for music - in particular saxophone and jazz - began in Havana, Cuba. His father was a classically trained saxophonist who instilled in D’Rivera an appreciation for fine art and literature. Although D'Rivera demonstrated prodigious talent on the saxophone, his father trained him to study how to play classical pieces and read music in addition to being able to improvise and play by ear.

When D'Rivera was 7 years old, his father planted a seed of ambition in him by putting on a Benny Goodman LP of live recordings from Carnegie Hall. As the record spun on the old Silvertone player, his imagination began to weave a dream of going to New York City, standing where Goodman once stood and playing music for the world.

Decades later, after performing a concert paying tribute to the King of Swing in that same venue, he watched from his car window as gleaming reflections in the water reminded him of waving palm leaves in Cuba. In that moment, he thought of the music he had just finished playing and imagined his father playing along to it with his tenor sax.

At that moment, D'Rivera says, "I discovered Cuba on the bank of the Hudson."

"The city is my baby," he said. "Always I want to live here."

D'Rivera's musical prowess has afforded him opportunities to play all over the world and with renowed artists. But it also forced him from Cuba in 1980, when he fled the artistically stifling communist land. Trying to avoid endangering anyone else, the artist left behind a wife and a son, Franco, with whom he would not be reunited until 1989.

D'Rivera's experience, intellect and talent have made him a prominent voice in matters artistic and political, often using the stage and his celebrity to bring awareness to the human condition in countries such as Cuba and China. In the United States, D'Rivera found not only the fulfillment of his own dreams, but a freedom to dream at all.

"It's the greatest country in the world," he said. "Here you can go for your own goals. I love it here. Except for the weather. I don't like the ice."

Music continues to take D'Rivera around the world as much as D’Rivera continues to bring music into the hearts of many. Since fleeing Cuba, D'Rivera has won several Latin and American Grammys, recorded more than 30 albums and played in and directed many ensembles. He's played several times to a full house at Carnegie Hall.

"The greatest award has been the opportunity to share the stage with performers of such high quality," he said.

In 2005, the National Endowment for the Arts named D'Rivera a Jazz Master, a lifetime achievement honor for artists who have shown extraordinary accomplishments in or commitment to jazz.

The NEA Jazz Masters tour all 50 states in a circuit of performances, speaking engagements or educational activities.

D'Rivera's first appearance in Columbia as part of the "We Always Swing" Jazz Series will include a performance at the Missouri Theatre as well as a music workshop earlier in the afternoon that is open to the public. The role is fitting for D'Rivera, who said he was taught that "talent without education is as useless as an unpolished diamond."

"It's important to stimulate that art appreciation even from elementary school," he said. "There is so many different types of music. Classical and jazz music are for a limited audience. Not everybody is mentally prepared for it. It’s not an ambient type of music. You have to pay attention to it like any other art requires."

PAQUITO D’RIVERA QUINTET

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Missouri Theatre, 203 S. Ninth St.

How much: $20-$26

Contact: 449-3001