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Latino Voices
My Sax Life: A Memoir
Winner of 2005 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition
Winner of 2005 National Medal of Arts
My Sax Life is the award-winning memoir of famed Cuban musician Paquito D'Rivera. A best-selling artist with more than thirty solo albums to his credit, D'Rivera has performed at the White House and the Blue Note, and with orchestras, jazz ensembles, and chamber groups around the world. Propelled by jazz-fueled high spirits, D'Rivera's story soars and spins from memory to memory in a collage of his remarkable life. D'Rivera recalls his early nightclub appearances as a child, performing with clowns and exotic dancers, as well as his search for artistic freedom in communist Cuba and his hungry explorations of world music after his defection. Opinionated but always good-humored, My Sax Life is a fascinating statement on art and the artist's life.
Winner of 2005 National Medal of Arts
My Sax Life is the award-winning memoir of famed Cuban musician Paquito D'Rivera. A best-selling artist with more than thirty solo albums to his credit, D'Rivera has performed at the White House and the Blue Note, and with orchestras, jazz ensembles, and chamber groups around the world. Propelled by jazz-fueled high spirits, D'Rivera's story soars and spins from memory to memory in a collage of his remarkable life. D'Rivera recalls his early nightclub appearances as a child, performing with clowns and exotic dancers, as well as his search for artistic freedom in communist Cuba and his hungry explorations of world music after his defection. Opinionated but always good-humored, My Sax Life is a fascinating statement on art and the artist's life.
- GenresJazz
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 7, 2021
This one is a hard one to review. Generally I dislike biographies in the old style of simple chronological progression through the person's life as they seem to dwell a little too long on the early years. So D'Rivera's approach here would be generally one that I should like a lot. He has a general chronological progression going on but along the way brings in many stories from other times, anecdotes to keep things lively and is generally all over the place in a time perspective. Talking about his childhood may bring up an anecdote about his mom from 40 years later.
But this book was not a real easy read for me. First let's say that for a scholar of Cuban music, there is a lot here to digest. There is history told that might not be easily available anywhere else. But even for those with some knowledge of the music and D'Rivera's career in the U.S., there may be a little too much detail. Too many peripheral personalities included. Too many practical jokes recalled.
Next, the book is really divided among two subjects that are intertwined such that you can't really focus on one above the other. So there is the promised "my life in music". But throughout, there is the constant commentary (and I would say, really a diatribe) against the Cuban ruling class and anyone, anywhere that supports them. (Gabriel Garcia Marquez gets special, ongoing treatment here.) I get that the Fidelistas took over, pushed control into all aspects of daily life, persecuted their enemies, etc but I don't need to hear about it in every chapter. So maybe we should see that in the chapters on his touring in the Soviet Union and when emigrating to the U.S. but really this commentary pervades most of the book. A more successful approach may have been just to write two books; write the biography and then write the polemic work later.
In summary, if you really want to get into the details of Cuban music and are willing to wade through the politics to get there, this book can be a valuable experience for you.
But this book was not a real easy read for me. First let's say that for a scholar of Cuban music, there is a lot here to digest. There is history told that might not be easily available anywhere else. But even for those with some knowledge of the music and D'Rivera's career in the U.S., there may be a little too much detail. Too many peripheral personalities included. Too many practical jokes recalled.
Next, the book is really divided among two subjects that are intertwined such that you can't really focus on one above the other. So there is the promised "my life in music". But throughout, there is the constant commentary (and I would say, really a diatribe) against the Cuban ruling class and anyone, anywhere that supports them. (Gabriel Garcia Marquez gets special, ongoing treatment here.) I get that the Fidelistas took over, pushed control into all aspects of daily life, persecuted their enemies, etc but I don't need to hear about it in every chapter. So maybe we should see that in the chapters on his touring in the Soviet Union and when emigrating to the U.S. but really this commentary pervades most of the book. A more successful approach may have been just to write two books; write the biography and then write the polemic work later.
In summary, if you really want to get into the details of Cuban music and are willing to wade through the politics to get there, this book can be a valuable experience for you.
July 30, 2020
En un tono muy ameno Paquito cuenta su biografía musical desde sus comienzos en la música a los seis años por influencia de su padre, pasando por sus primeros conciertos, su participación en la Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, la formación de Irakere, los viajes y la situación en Cuba con el régimen de Castro, hasta su exilio (o escape) y su vida en Estados Unidos, donde toca, entre otros, con Dizzy Gillespie.
El libro está lleno de anécdotas, nombres, ramificaciones y detalles, que entiendo que para algunos pueda resultar excesivo. En mi caso no lo fue iba con interés de encontrar aquello.
El libro está lleno de anécdotas, nombres, ramificaciones y detalles, que entiendo que para algunos pueda resultar excesivo. En mi caso no lo fue iba con interés de encontrar aquello.
March 14, 2019
Una increíble y apasionada historia de vida musical.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews