Word: rivera
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...child prodigy who sat in with Cuba's best musicians as early as the age of seven, D'Rivera went on to become a founding member of the Cuban super band, Irakere. Founded in the early 1970s, Irakere (whose name is a Yoruba meaning forest), an II-piece aggregation that drew on Afro-Cuban religion and folklore as well as jazz, rock and even classical music, was typical of the eclectic approach many Cuban bands took following the revolution...
...Rivera, who played alto say and flute, was, along with keyboardist/bandleader Jesus "Chucho" Valdes and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, the heart and soul of the group. A. fiery, technically proficient saxophonist, D'Rivera raised the eyebrows of fans, critics and record company executives everywhere Irakere toured...
...before the deal could come to fruition, D'Rivera defected in Spain during an Irakere tour. And although it was bad news for American fans of Irakere, it was good news for jazz and the saxophone...
...Rivera soon moved to New York, where his mother and sister, who had left Cuba in the '60s, waited. Columbia Records also waited, and signed D'Rivera to a contract. Since then, D'Rivera has made two studio albums and a live album, playing with American jazz musicians he had heard in Cuba as well as two musicians, drummer Ignacio Berroa and conguero Daniel Ponce, who had defected to the United States in a mass exodus to Florida some years earlier and had played with Paquito in Cuba...
...latest effort, "Why Not!", a collaboration with Belgian-born harmonica player Toots Thielemans, which showcases some of Paquito's strongest playing since he came to the States. D'Rivera, befitting his Cuban/jazz and Irakere backgrounds, broadens his horizons in his third effort as a leader, drawing on the myriad influences found in his multicultural second home...