July 11, 2007

Vote for clear thinking Cuban defectors in Downbeat poll

From Joe Bendel via Henry Gomez comes this:

Last year I started a small blogging campaign on behalf of Cuban defector Paquito D'Rivera in Downbeat magazine's readers poll. In the jazz world, it actually carries a great deal of weight. Voting is on again, and this year you can cast your ballot on-line. Details here. D'Rivera is an excellent musician, a recipient of the NEA Jazz Master Award. He has also been known to take clueless celebrities like Carlos Santana publicly to task for their Che fetishes. Arturo Sandoval is also well regarded, and famous to many jazz outsiders as the subject of the HBO film For Love or Country, starring Andy Garcia. You can feel good about voting for Sandoval in the trumpet category. You can take added satisfaction in voting for D'Rivera in the clarinet category, as Don Byron, the perennial winner, is a bit of a downtown leftist.

Vote for Paquito and Arturo. They are ejemplares of the Cuban exile community.

Posted by George Moneo at July 11, 2007 11:22 AM

Comments

They're excellent both. I first noticed Paquito in Andy Garcia's Cachao documentary and master session volumes, which made me a fan of Cuban music.

Posted by: jluix [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 11, 2007 01:45 PM


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