Last Saturday 19 November, the Liceu Conservatory Auditorium was the setting for a great event, the tribute that the Barcelona Jazz Festival and the Liceu Conservatory Foundation carried out in honour of a great musician, Paquito D’Rivera.
The Cuban musician was the true protagonist, where the audience could enjoy an exceptional, unique and unrepeatable event, thanks to the musical and artistic wisdom of Paquito D’Rivera.
Paquito D’Rivera received the night before the gold medal of the Barcelona Jazz Festival at the Palau de la Música, coinciding with the performance he did with the pianist Chucho Valdés, and a few days before, he also received the Latin Grammy Award for Excellence in Las Vegas (USA).
The event began with an interview with Paquito D’Rivera by the artistic director of the Jazz Festival, Joan Anton Cararach. The main thread was a series of videos that reviewed his extensive artistic career. From a video of his performance in 1979 with the group Irakere at the Capitol Theatre in New Jersey (USA) to the making of the album Fantasías Barcelónicas, in which the Cuban performs with the Barcelona Clarinet Players quartet. De Rivera is also featured in videos with internationally renowned artists such as Bebo Valdés, Dizzy Gillespie, Tete Montoliu or Yo-Yo Ma.
D’Rivera then performed with the Barcelona Clarinet Players quartet, where they performed different pieces from their new album Fantasías Barcelónicas.
The surprise of the day was the one starring the pianist Chucho Valdés, present at the Auditorium, where he wanted to perform together with his granddaughter Shanti Easton, violinist and student of the Liceu Conservatory, playing the piece 100 años by Bebo.
At the end of the ceremony Paquito D’Rivera signed the Liceu Conservatory’s Book of Honour and declared “To be here at the Conservatori in this Barcelona that I love. I felt like I was going back to school again, I would like to know even less than I know to come and learn at this wonderful school from which I have had so many pleasant news”».
Paquito D’Rivera did not want to miss the concert of the night at the Liceu Conservatory Auditorium, the one starring the guitarist Yamandu Costa, where he played two bisos with the Brazilian.