Paquito D'Rivera's Caribbean Tour Live in Paris

Paquito d’Rivera is a true seasoned veteran, a man who has no less than twelve Grammy awards and has released more than one album for every year of his life, as both leader and sideman. With his roots in the city of Havana and its unique blend of Latin Jazz, d’Rivera spent his childhood learning from his father, a classical saxophonist with a penchant for American jazz and the swing of Duke Ellington. The start of his upward curve came when he met the great pianist Chucho Valdes at the Havana conservatory. The two would go on to found the Orchestra Cubana de Musica Moderna and later the legendary Irakere in 1973. 

The following decade, having been disillusioned by the restrictions placed on his music and by the regime in general, d’Rivera defected to the United States and entered the international music scene, where he was dubbed a tropical Charlie Parker and collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie. Here, he is joined by his quartet for a “Caribbean Tour,” a journey through jazz, rock and Latin music with soul and groove laced through each melody. The repertoire is as vast as it gets, with covers of Chopin next to Spanish traditional folk and Dizzy Gillespie tracks next to his own compositions. Paquito is a treasure.