Paquito D’Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall, on PBS

He is arguably the greatest clarinet player since the two swing giants, Goodman and Shaw. He has the Downbeat clarinet poll first places to prove it. He also plays some mean sax. Yet, performing at Carnegie Hall has particularly special meaning for clarinetists, because of Benny Goodman’s history-making concert. Paquito D’Rivera has played there several times and he comes back again to pay tribute to the “King of Swing” at the conclusion of this documentary. Juan Mandelbaum celebrates the musician’s life, his music, and his passion for both in Paquito D’Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall, which premieres this Tuesday on PBS, as part of the current season of Voces.

D’Rivera first discovered Goodman when his father, a classical musician, brought home the Carnegie Hall Concert album (which the young boy misheard to be “Carne y Frijol”). Seeing his son take to the reed instruments, his father soon promoted him as a young phenom. Yet, all the best opportunities were outside the country, because they lived in post-Revolutionary Cuba. In fact, it was his mother who first warned the musician their new dictator would be worse than the old one.

However, D’Rivera managed to rise to international prominence while still living in Cuba, thanks to his role as one of the major musical voices in the Cuban fusion band Irakere, co-led by his longtime friend Chucho Valdes. Dizzy Gillespie’s recognition didn’t hurt either. Unfortunately, after D’Rivera defected, politics kept the Irakere bandmates apart, until Valdes also cuts ties to his homeland and joined D’Rivera’s criticism of the Communist regime. Now, they jam together regularly, as viewers can see and hear.

Indeed, Valdes is one of Mandelbaum’s very short, but exceptionally distinguished cast of commentators, which also includes classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Israeli jazz clarinetist Anat Cohen, and D’Rivera’s longtime sidemen (who are leaders in their own right) Diego Urcola (from Argentina) and Alon Yavnai. That is quite a lineup.

Of course, Mandelbaum’s greatest asset is his subject, who remains a mischievous wit and a charming stage and screen presence. Attending D’Rivera’s concerts and gigs will always recharge your batteries. Mandelbaum’s doc does much the same.

Frankly, the only criticism that applies to the Voces presentation of From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall is PBS’s decision to broadcast an hour-long TV edit rather than the 72-minute festival cut. It is all so good, they ought to give their viewers as much as they can. Frankly, they could air some choice outtakes as well. Highly recommended for fans of all forms of jazz and Latin music, as well as anyone interested in the Cuban dissident-exile experience, Paquito D’Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall airs Monday night (10/12) on PBS.