JaZZ-ClaZZ Paquito D'Rivera & Sabine Meyer

• 1 Vals Venezolano 07:02
• 2 Oblivion 05:40
• 3 Suite Piazzolana 12:38
• 4 Borat In Syracuse 04:53
• 5 Afro 03:55
• 6 Dizzyness 03:54
• 7 Chiquita Blues 04:36
• 8 Paquito 04:11
• 9 Fiddle Dream 07:03
• 10 Toque De Clave 03:42
• 11 Contradanza 01:57
• 12 La Cachila 05:55
• 13 Los Tres Golpes 01:53
• 14 Brasilierino 04:35
• Total Runtime 01:11:54

Info for JaZZ-ClaZZ

He knows all about dreams. The melody for one of the fourteen pieces on JaZZ-ClaZZ came to him in a dream: Chiquita Blues, a tribute to Benny Goodman. The recordings in Germany went like a dream too, when Paquito D’Rivera took his Cuban flair to the Bauer Studios in Ludwigsburg. In the course of the intensive recording session, the German-Cuban connection played a total of seven duos, trios, quartets, and quintets: always with the right mixture of classical music and jazz, giving the project its name. “Some of these pieces like Ignacio Cervantes’ Los Tres Golpes and Waldir Acevedo’s Brasileirinho, from the recording 'Obrigado Brazil' with Yo-Yo Ma, and Vals Venezolano, Contradanza, Afro and Dizziness from my Suite Aires Tropicales, have been recorded in diverse formats, but here with the participation of Sabine, Wolfgang, Reiner and Alex they acquire a totally different character,” D’Rivera still waxes lyrical about the recordings.

The right mixture is very important to the Paq-Man, as D’Rivera is playfully nicknamed. Half of the fourteen tracks are his own creations, including the dream vision Chiquita Blues, or Fiddle Dreams, which he actually composed for violin and piano, but which he recorded for JaZZ-ClaZZ with Alex Brown at the piano, at the New York Knoop Studios, using his C clarinet in a studio for the first time. Or for example Borat in Syracuse, also created in the New York section of the recordings, inspired by nothing less than the globally successful movie Borat by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. The second half of the disc consists of new interpretations of pieces composed by other great names such as Chick Chorea, or, as with Toque de Clave, by the Cuban composer Gisela Hernandez, whose success in combining her Cuban roots with classical music fascinated Paquito D’Rivera and provided him with the perfect model for JaZZ-ClaZZ.

And so JaZZ-ClaZZ is pure musical pluralism and a work not of contrasts, but far more one of successful combinations: jazz and classical, Cuba-Germany, Ludwigsburg-New York, new and re-interpreted, sensitive clarinets and wild, rhythmic percussion. And a product which can be best described by Sabine Meyer’s remark in an interview: “The clarinet is very close to the human voice as a means of expression. You can convey best what you feel yourself.”

Featuring Trio Clarone:
Paquito D’Rivera, Clarinet
Sabine Meyer, Clarinet
Reiner Wehle, Clarinet
Wolfgang Meyer, Clarinet

Paquito D'rivera
has won a combined 16 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards (5 Grammy and 11 Latin Grammys). He is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer.

Born in Havana, Cuba, he performed at age 10 with the National Theater Orchestra, studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music, and at 17, became a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony. As a founding member of the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, he directed that group for two years, while at the same time playing both the clarinet and saxophone with the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. He eventually went on to premiere several works by notable Cuban composers with the same orchestra. Additionally, he was a founding member and co-director of the innovative musical ensemble Irakere. With its explosive mixture of jazz, rock, classical and traditional Cuban music never before heard, Irakere toured extensively throughout America and Europe, received several GRAMMY nominations (1979, 1980), and a GRAMMY (1979).

His numerous recordings include more than 30 solo albums. In 1988, he was a founding member of the United Nation Orchestra, a 15-piece ensemble organized by Dizzy Gillespie to showcase the fusion of Latin and Caribbean influences with jazz. D’Rivera continues to appear as guest conductor. A GRAMMY was awarded the United Nation Orchestra in 1991, the same year D’Rivera received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Carnegie Hall for his contributions to Latin music. Additionally, D’Rivera’s highly acclaimed ensembles- the Chamber Jazz Ensemble, the Paquito D’Rivera Big Band, and the Paquito D’Rivera Quintet are in great demand world wide.

While Paquito D’Rivera’s discography reflects a dedication and enthusiasm for Jazz, Bebop and Latin music, his contributions to classical music are impressive. They include solo performances with the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. He has also performed with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, the Costa Rica National Symphony, the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, and the St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, among others. In his passion to bring Latin repertoire to greater prominence, Mr. D’Rivera has successfully created, championed and promoted all types of classical compositions, including his three chamber compositions recorded live in concert with distinguished cellist Yo-Yo Ma in September 2003. The chamber work “Merengue,” from that live concert at Zankel Hall, was released by Sony Records and garnered Paquito his 7th GRAMMY as Best Instrumental Composition 2004.

In addition to his extraordinary performing career as an instrumentalist, Mr. D’Rivera has rapidly gained a reputation as an accomplished composer. The prestigious music house, Boosey and Hawkes, is the exclusive publisher of Mr. D’Rivera’s compositions. Recent recognition of his compositional skills came with the award of a 2007 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition, and the 2007-2008 appointment as Composer-In-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. As part of the Caramoor Latin American music initiative, Sonidos Latinos, D’Rivera’s new concerto for double bass and clarinet/saxophone, “Conversations with Cachao,” pays tribute to Cuba’s legendary bass player, Israel “Cachao” Lopez. D’Rivera’s works often reveal his widespread and eclectic musical interests, which range from Afro-Cuban rhythms and melodies, including influences encountered in his many travels, and back to his classical origins. Inspiration for another recent composition, “The Cape Cod Files”, comes from such disparate sources as Benny Goodman’s intro to the Eubie Blake popular song “Memories of You”, Argentinean Milonga, improvisations on the music of Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona, and North American boogie-woogie. His numerous commissions include compositions for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Library of Congress, the National Symphony Orchestra and Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Ying String Quartet, the International Double Reed Society, Syracuse University, Montreal’s Gerald Danovich Saxophone Quartet, and the Grant Park Music Festival.

Another commission came about through ensemble Opus 21’s interest in building bridges between audiences of different backgrounds. Dedicated to the works and art music of the 21st century, Opus 21 commissioned “The Chaser” and premiered it in May, 2006. In 2005, Imani Winds, a woodwind quintet committed to the exploration of diverse world music traditions and the broadening of the traditional wind quintet literature, commissioned “Kites.” This work personifies freedom and the vision that liberty and independence have a foundation through culture and music. Just as a kite may fly freely, its path continues to be bound to the earth–its foundation, by the string. ...

This album contains no booklet.