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Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras was born in Havana, Cuba, the son of a classical saxophone player with a deep love of swing and the music of Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. Paquito D’Rivera took to the saxophone while still a child, taking his first lessons from his father. By 10, he was performing with the National Theater Orchestra. He studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music, and, at 17, he was a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony.
In the early 70s, he became a charter member and co-director of Irakere, a small big band that shook up the established conventions in Latin Jazz with an explosive mixture of Afro-Cuban music, jazz, rock, and European classical music.
Discovered by Dizzy Gillespie on a visit to Cuba, Irakere debuted in the United States at Carnegie Hall as part of the NewportJazz Festival in 1978. A self-titled debut recording featuring songs from this performance earned Irakere a GRAMMY the following year.
He moved to the United States in 1980, and his first albums as a leader, Paquito Blowin’ (1981) and Mariel (1982), made him a favorite of audiences and critics. In 1988, Paquito D’Rivera became a charter member of the United Nation Orchestra, and co- conductor. A 15-piece ensemble organised by Gillespie to showcase the fusion of Latin and Caribbean influences with jazz.
His numerous honors include the NEA Jazz Masters Award 2005 and the National Medal of the Arts 2005, and the Living Jazz Legend Award from the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., in Frankfuter Musik Prize, Miembro Honorifico de la Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, Honorary doctorates from University of Pennsylvania, Berklee School of Music, Manhattan School of Music, City University of NY, among numerous others.
Paquito D’Rivera , clarinetist , saxophonist, composer , arranger has won a combined 16 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards (5 Grammy and 11 Latin Grammys). He has more than 40 albums under his name and he just finished a new one « La Fleur de Cayenne » to be released in the Spring 2025 : Video Promo Paquito
