Paquito D'Rivera looks radiant at 75 years old. The Cuban saxophonist and clarinetist landed from his home in New York just 24 hours ago and even so, he is already ready early to rehearse at L' Auditori in Barcelona. “My life is a constant jet lag, I'm used to it,” the musician admits smiling in an interview with La Vanguardia. He is wearing a shirt with a vintage car design that was given to him by his dear friend and colleague Chucho Valdés, who knows about Paquito's obsession with classic cars. A year ago, both musicians met in Barcelona to play together at the Palau de la Música. Now, they have not met in the Catalan capital for just a few days. The Cuban, who left Havana in the 80s and has been living in the United States for several decades, is happy to find himself in Barcelona again. “I know that one day I will end up living in Spain.”
Paquito D'Rivera will open the musical season at L'Auditori this Sunday, in a concert with the Barcelona Municipal Band and the Barcelona Clarinet Players. The musician, known for fusing jazz with elements of classical and Latin music, will present on this occasion a repertoire different from what he usually plays. “As Duke Ellington said, there are two types of music: good music and everything else." On the one hand, he will perform two of his own pieces. Caribbean Berceuse, where in addition to the clarinet quartet he incorporates steel drums ), and The Elephant and the Clown, a symphonic poem in tribute to Los Payasos de la Tele: Gabi, Fofó and Miliki. The origin of the composition goes back to a nice story that Paquito D'Rivera lived as a child when he worked in a circus with the clowns in Cuba. “Fofó, who was a very prankster, hid the elephant from a Hungarian trainer and then convinced him to go and file a report at the police station,” the artist recalls with a laugh.
“Barcelona fascinates me.” The food, the architecture, but above all, “it has that jazzy movement.” According to Paquito D'Rivera, “it is like the New York of the Iberian Peninsula.” Living in Spain has been a constant obsession throughout the musician's life, but he still does not dare to take the leap. “I'm afraid to move permanently and start missing New York.” In addition to opening the season at L'Auditori, the Cuban was at the presentation of the book Round about Tete, a biography written by Pere Pons Macías (Libros del Kultrum) of the legendary Catalan jazz musician, Tete Montoliu. “Tete was the most prominent musician here and he is still present despite having died 25 years ago,” says Paquito, who also participated in the tribute by writing the book's prologue.
The feeling of getting on stage for Paquito D'Rivera is like riding a roller coaster. “I'm always terrified,” confesses the musician. “Every time they introduce me, I ask myself: 'Who told me to get involved in this?'” Throughout his career he has played in the most iconic venues of the genre, from the classic Carnegie Hall to the legendary Blue club. Note in New York City, where artists such as Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday and Miles Davies passed through. “The atmosphere of the club is very nice, but there is nothing like a big packed theater.” Last year the artist performed alongside the Chinese-born musician Yo-Yo Ma at the Wolf Trap in Vienna, an amphitheater with capacity for approximately seven thousand people.
Faced with the devastating moment that the international context is going through, Paquito D'Rivera firmly believes that for people “art is not a luxury, it is a necessity.” The musician remembers his childhood in Cuba, when “music was in the air” and regrets that the situation in the country today is “a real disaster.”
The charisma and eternal joy of Paquito D'Rivera is to this day the artist's best kept secret. “If you want, I'll give you my wife's phone number so she can tell you otherwise,” jokes the musician. Paquito D'Rivera will perform at L'Auditori with the Barcelona Municipal Band and the Barcelona Clarinet Players this Sunday, October 22 at 6:00 p.m.
