Paquito D’Rivera

One of the first clarinet players I heard was Paquito D'Rivera, who impressed me with his agility and versatility when he played. One of his first works that I heard was the Venezuelan waltz and the contradanza for clarinet and piano, from that moment I liked it so much that I started to investigate about his music, with time while I progressed in my clarinet studio I managed to play some of his works.
Born on June 4, 1948 in Havana, Cuba, Paquito D'Rivera began his studies at age 5, and at age 7 he was a saxophone prodigy and at 12 he began his clarinet and composition studies at the Conservatorio de la Havana. He has currently won 14 Grammy awards and one of them won it with the Irakere group, which was one of the great exponents of Latin jazz.
I still have not had the opportunity to see him play live, but I hope to see him next time I come to Chile, and hear him play my favorite works.