Want to travel down memory lane with one of the indisputable giants in Cuban music? Come share an evening with 14-Grammy Award-winner Paquito D’Rivera, who will speak live about his life and times during a career than spans six decades! A master narrator in his own right, Mr. D’Rivera will give the audience an inside scoop in this New York City launching of his latest memoir. Years after receiving a fan letter with no return address, the Latin jazz legend began to write Letters to Yeyito in the hope of reaching its author, a would-be musician. In the course of advising his Cuban compatriot on love, life, and musicianship, D’Rivera recounts his own long journey in the arts. 
After persevering under Castro’s brand of socialism for years, D’Rivera defected from Cuba and left his beloved Havana for that other great city: New York. From there, the saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer launched a dazzling–and still very active–career that has included fourteen Grammys, world tours, and extensive collaboration with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Yo Yo Ma, and other legendary musicians who make cameos in Letters to Yeyito. Full of humor, entertaining anecdotes, useful advice from an expert, and the musician’s characteristic exuberance, D’Rivera’s story is one of life on the move and finding a h
ome in music.
But an evening of vintage Paquito would not be complete without including his latest addition to his rich recording portfolio, Jazz Meets the Classics (Latin Grammy 2015), an invigorating blend of influences—jazz, classical, and Afro-Cuban—that have made him the musician he is today.
As a special treat, nothing beats
Aires Tropicales (2015), D’Rivera’s collaboration with Quinteto Cimarrón, which includes a collection of superb
arrangements by Cuban composers, both classic and contemporary. The book and both CDs will be available for purchase, with Paquito’s signature at your request!
This intimate chat with the Paquito D’Rivera will be moderated in Spanish by Cuban writer Enrique del Risco.
Simultaneous translation will be available
through earphones.
Writer, professor, and blogger Enrique del Risco has a Master’s in Cuban history from the University of Havana and a Ph.D in Latin American literature from New York University. His doctoral thesis was published under the title Elogio de la levedad. Mitos nacionales cubanos y sus reescrituras literarias en el siglo XX
(Madrid, 2008). His essays have been published in leading academic journals in the U.S., Mexico, and Spain, as well as in several anthologies, including, among others, Guayaba Sweet. Literatura cubana en Estados Unidos (Cádiz, 2003) Known for his mordant wit and original take on current affairs, he is the author of several short-story collections, including Pérdida y recuperación de la inocencia (La Habana, 1994), Lágrimas de cocodrilo (Cádiz, 1998), Leve Historia de Cuba (Los Ángeles, 2007) y ¿Qué pensarán de nosotros en Japón? (Sevilla, 2008, V Premio Iberoamericano Cortes de Cádiz) and of the non-fiction books Siempre nos quedará Madrid (Nueva York, 2012) y Enrisco para presidente (Nueva York, 2014). He presently teaches in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at New York University.
INSTITUTO CERVANTES
211 E 49th St, NYC
GENERAL ADMISSION: $20
FREE for MEMBERS of INSTITUTO CERVANTES or CCCNY
MANDATORY RSVP:
CCCNY Members: cccofny@aol.com
IC Members: cult1ny@cervantes.org
Vintage Paquito is part of our “Havana Evenings at Cervantes” program
and is co-organized by Instituto Cervantes
And is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
With the promotional cooperation of
and 