Paquito d'Rivera @ Dizzy's 6/17/12

I try to take the opportunity to see these mainstream jazz greats when they play a club, especially when it's not Blue Note.  I also like getting to Dizzy's every now and then.  This was an excellent move on my part - it was awesome.  The compositions were reinterpreted classical works gone jazz.  Stellar arrangements.  They did Chopin, Mozart, Beethovan, and Bach - the jazz way.  Paquito told us how he always heard a Blues in the 2nd Movement of a Mozart piece and he and Wynton Marsalis decided that Mozart was actually from New Orleans and not Salzburg.  Later, he told us Beethovan was actually from Machu Pichu, Peru and then of course we got a super Latin number.

The band was phenomenal.  The piano really stood out.  The drummer also had timbales.  There was also a percussionist with Congas and either little congas or bongos, I'm not quite sure.

I loved it!


The listing:
Paquito D'Rivera: Boleros de Chopin
w/Diego Urcola, Alex Brown, Oscar Stagnaro, Mark Walker, and Arturo Sable
Arguably no living musician embodies the spirit of our club's namesake than D'Rivera. Whether it's his humor, incredible musicianship, an unwavering devotion to knocking down musical borders in the name of be-bop or his recognition as a leading international ambassador of jazz, Dizzy Gillespie is his main influence. For this performance, he gives a very lyrical and explosive Latin jazz mix of boleros, Chopin, bebop, Mozart, rumbas, and Bach. Paquito D'Rivera, alto saxophone, clarinet; Diego Urcola, trumpet; valve trombone; Alex Brown, piano; Oscar Stagnaro, bass; Mark Walker, drums; Arturo Sable, percussion

This is from last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQf5MeO5fOc