Paquito D'Rivera Portraits Of Cuba CD

PORTRAITS OF CUBA won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Because Paquito D'Rivera is such a compelling improviser, one greets a heavily arranged and orchestrated session like Portraits of Cuba with some apprehension. But as it turns out, such apprehension is unwarranted, for the Cuban saxman/clarinetist still has enough room to solo and say what needs to be said. With this 1996 session, which was arranged and conducted by Carlos Franzetti and finds D'Rivera backed by combinations of up to 14 musicians, D'Rivera envisioned an Afro-Cuban equivalent of Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain -- and, to be sure, there are some parallels. Franzetti's classical-influenced arrangements recall Gil Evans' work with Davis, and D'Rivera paints an orchestral jazz picture of Cuba much as Davis painted an orchestral jazz picture of Spain. The key phrase here is "jazz picture" -- D'Rivera approaches famous Cuban songs like Ignacio Pineiro's "Echale Salsita" and Ernesto Lecuona's "Como Arrullo de Palmas" from an instrumental jazz perspective; this is jazz with both Afro-Cuban and classical elements, but it's jazz first and foremost. Recorded in New York around the time of the infamous Blizzard of 1996 -- which dumped up to three feet of snow on parts of the Northeastern U.S. -- Portraits of Cuba is among D'Rivera's most essential recordings. ~ Alex Henderson

Recorded at St. Peter's Church, New York, New York on February 6 & 7, 1996. Includes liner notes by Carlos Franzetti and David Chesky, and an interview with Paquito D'Rivera by Allison Brewster Franzetti.

Personnel: Paquito D'Rivera (soprano & alto saxophones, clarinet); Carlos Franzetti (arranger, conductor); Lawrence Feldman (alto saxophone, flute); Andres Boiarsky (tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet); Dick Oatts, Thomas Christensen (tenor saxophone, flute); Roger Rosenberg (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon); Lew Soloff, Bob Millikan, Diego Urcola, Gustavo Bergalli (trumpet, flugelhorn); James Pugh (trombone); David Taylor (bass trombone); John Clark (French horn); Allison Brewster Franzetti, Dario Eskenazi, Carlos Franzetti (piano); David Finck (bass); Mark Walker (drums); Pernell Saturnino (percussion).

Down Beat (5/97, pp.65-66) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...Franzetti's arrangements owe more to Gil Evans than Mario Bauza....emphasizes the European over the African side of Cuban music....beautifully crafted charts, with their lush voicings and lustrous textures..."
JazzTimes (9/96, p.97) - "...the ballad quotient runs very high and evokes Cuba as a tropical paradise (albeit in the mists of his memory). Percussion is downplayed, as lush carpets of brass and winds prevail....I further predict that this highly satisfying album will become...a jazz classic..."