Paquito D'Rivera: "Playing in Cuba Is One Thing I Still Haven't Done"

The renowned Cuban musician Paquito D'Rivera (Havana, 1948), a giant in the world of jazz, recently spoke with CiberCuba just before embarking on a seven-week tour through Spain, Portugal, and Slovenia. With his bags still unpacked, the saxophone and clarinet master took half an hour of his precious time to discuss Cuba. Despite his exile in New York, he remains keenly aware of everything happening on the island.

D'Rivera also shared some details about his upcoming performance on July 11 at the Palau de la Música in Valencia, Spain. He will perform alongside the Orquestre de Valencia, flamenco guitarist Juan Manuel Cañizares, harmonica player Antonio Serrano ("if God played the harmonica, he would play like him," says D'Rivera), and pianist and close friend Pepe Rivero. This concert will celebrate his 70 years on stage. While he admits he does get tired, he quickly adds that he simply rests and then feels rejuvenated. "I enjoy this life of traveling, and yes, I get very tired, especially now that I'm older," he confesses.

Considering a Move to Spain

D'Rivera is one of the most sought-after figures at jazz festivals in Spain, and perhaps because of his frequent travels there, he is considering buying a house in the country. The only decision left is where: Barcelona, Madrid, or the South. However, this doesn't mean he plans to leave New York, a city he loves dearly.

The interview was filled with numerous anecdotes, such as his conversation with Chinese multi-instrumentalist Yo Yo Ma, who once told him that what he enjoys most in life isn't playing the cello, which made him famous, but "talking to people." "Yo Yo," D'Rivera explains, "is a good listener who genuinely cares about what you have to say."

When asked if he feels nostalgic for Cuba after 70 years on stage, D'Rivera was unequivocal: "No." He illustrated his point with a personal story about his grandfather, a hero of the War of Independence. "He died, and I'm sure if I went to his grave now and opened it, that wouldn't be my grandfather. Cuba has become something incredibly sad."

He also recalled the late Cuban intellectual Carlos Alberto Montaner, who once told him, "These people have harassed us so much that they've killed even our nostalgia." D'Rivera shared a story about his friend Dulce María, a perpetually cheerful woman who recently confided in him that she was considering suicide instead of making the long-desired trip she had planned. "The Cuba I left no longer exists," he laments. "Even the way people speak and the names they have are different."

D'Rivera also criticized the reasons why people leave Cuba today. "People used to leave in the '60s and '70s because of the lack of freedom, because they couldn't speak. Now they leave because the bus doesn't come. It's all material problems. The spirituality is gone from that country."

On the topic of music, D'Rivera acknowledges that it's one of the few things the regime hasn't managed to destroy. "Cuban people have always been very artistic." He also credited Chucho Valdés as the most important person in his career. "I learned so much from Chucho. I remember the first time I saw him playing the piano in the style of Oscar Peterson. It was astonishing."

D'Rivera also touched on a conversation he had with Valdés, warning him that the Cuban regime was using him. "When he told me he wasn't going back to Cuba, I decided it was okay to work with him again."

He expressed his gratitude to Valdés for inviting him to form Irakere when he was essentially under house arrest for two years. "They paid me and everything. How generous of the revolution," he sarcastically notes.

Regarding Díaz-Canel, D'Rivera described him as a man with "no charisma and a wooden face," and expressed his surprise that people still applaud him in New York churches after his mistreatment of religious people. "They could never mistreat me because I was never religious."

When asked about reggaeton and reparto, D'Rivera avoided criticism. "There have always been talented and untalented people. Talentless people with success are inevitable. Everyone does what they can or want. It's a very musical island, and that's one of the few things they haven't been able to kill there."

On what he still wants to accomplish in his life, D'Rivera replied, "I love my work. If I had to do it all over again, I would. One thing I still haven't done is play in my country. I hope that someday it will happen. I don't want to end up like Celia Cruz, dressed for the party but never able to attend. But as long as they are there, I won't go back. I'm afraid. Those people are not trustworthy."

D'Rivera also remembered the political prisoners in Cuba, calling it a disgrace that Maikel Osorbo is imprisoned for singing. "Ten years in prison for shouting 'Freedom,' for shouting 'Food.' It's very difficult to return to a place like that."

He criticized the Biden Administration's measures that benefit mipymes, stating, "They're feeding the piranhas." He also criticized the parole program, fearing it could bring people like Ramiro Valdés to the U.S. "When the ship is sinking, the rats jump."

D'Rivera also commented on how long the regime's end is taking, comparing it to the never-ending finales of Beethoven's symphonies.