2005 News
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2005: |
National Medal of Arts Jazz Exhibition at the Smithsonian NEA Jazz Master Book release of "My Sax Life" Tribute at Carnegie Hall |
A Good Year for Paquito D'Rivera
President Bush Announces 2005 National Medal of Arts Recipients
Washington, D.C.
- President George W. Bush today announced the recipients of
the 2005
National Medal of Arts. Ten medals will be presented by
the President and Mrs. Laura Bush in an Oval Office ceremony
at the White House on November 10. The National Endowment for
the Arts notified the artists of their selection to receive
a National Medal of Arts, the nation's highest honor for artistic
excellence.
(White House photo
Jazz History at the Smithsonian
March 2005, Jazz Appreciation Month
National Museum of American History
A picture of the March 21, 2005 presentation
event showing Paquito and other Latin Jazz luminaries donating
personal items, instruments, and compositions to the National
Museum of American History.
(photo by Brenda Feliciano)
2005 NEA Jazz Master
In January 2005 the National Endowment for the Arts named Paquito
D'Rivera an NEA Jazz Master, America's highest honor in jazz.
On the set of Ramsey Lewis program with the NEA Jazz Masters 2005 which includes James Moody, Nancy Wilson, Ramsey Lewis and Paquito D'Rivera
My Sax Life
A Memoir by Paquito D'Rivera
Meet the Author—Jazz Sensation Paquito D’Rivera
From Washington Post:
"One musician who embodies Nicholson's theory of "globalization" is Paquito D'Rivera, a Cuban-born saxophone and clarinet virtuoso who plays classical music, jazz and Latin dance music with equal skill. A professional musician since the age of 6, D'Rivera has also written a novel, and in My Sax Life (Northwestern Univ., $29.95) he's produced a breathless, sometimes vulgar romp through his life, both before and after his exile from Cuba.
A staunch opponent of Fidel Castro, D'Rivera has no patience for anyone who admires anything about Cuba under communism -- and that includes Nelson Mandela and Gabriel García Márquez. He dramatically describes his 1980 escape, when he sought asylum in Spain and left his wife and son behind. (They were later reunited, but the marriage didn't survive.) D'Rivera recites endless lists of sidemen and recording dates, but he reveals little of his own musical approach, except to praise Brazilian music as "the most balanced formula of rhythm-melody-harmony in the world" and to mock Cuban trumpeters for "playing high-pitched notes that only dogs can hear."
Paquito’s autobiography “My Sax Life”is available from Northwestern University Press.
FUJITSU Jazz Festival Tribute to Paquito D'Rivera
“50 Years and 10 Nights of Show Business”
CARNEGIE HALL – January 10th
PAQUITO D’RIVERA celebrated “50 Years and 10 Nights” of show business at CARNEGIE HALL on January 10, 2005, with a star-studded program packed with his musical friends!
Carnegie Hall - January 10, 2005