Celebrating 20 Years of SOPAC with The Giants of Jazz and Paquito D'Rivera
The South Orange Performing Arts Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary! What better way to celebrate than to return to their roots?
In November of 2006, SOPAC presented "The Music of Two Worlds," a concert performance featuring Paquito D'Rivera, Yo-Yo Ma, Brenda Feliciano and the Imani Winds as produced by the Grammy Award-winning producer and bass player, John Lee. "That’s one of those nights that I’ll remember for the rest of my life," he muses. A South Orange resident himself, Lee was only too happy to assist in creating the inaugural performance. He had been producing the "Giants of Jazz" series since 1998, wherein a significant artist whose creativity has had a major impact on jazz performance is honored and presented with the Jazz Masters Award.
The event moved into and thereby christened the SOPAC space in 2006 and has returned annually ever since. Past honorees include Gary Bartz, Kenny Barron, George Cables, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Bob Cranshaw, Frank Foster, Benny Golson, Slide Hampton, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Jimmy Heath, Harold Mabern, Jackie McLean, Marion McPartland, James Moody, Lewis Nash, Benny Powell, Rufus Reid, Paquito D`Rivera, Claudio Roditi, Dr. Billy Taylor, Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner, Frank Wess, Randy Weston, Buster Williams, and Phil Woods.
Paquito D'Rivera is this year's Giants of Jazz honoree.
Paquito D'Rivera had graced the stage for SOPAC’s inaugural performance and is thrilled to return to celebrate twenty years of SOPAC as a Giant of Jazz. D’Rivera boasts a combined 16 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, having been celebrated for his achievements as a classical composer, soloist, and Latin jazz performer. A native of Cuba, he studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music and at 17 years old, became a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony. He went on to become a founding member of Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, and later, the musical ensemble Irakere. His accomplishments are numerous, having performed with the London Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, among many more.
While D’Rivera is in the midst of a tour, performing in Spain at the time of this interview and jetting off to Mexico next, he made sure to send word through John Lee that he’d like to share with audiences. He tells Lee, "I am very happy to be the 2025 'Giants of Jazz' honoree, and I look forward to a wonderful night of music. It’s going to be a great night and I will see you there!"
The event’s producer John Lee is himself an accomplished musician, Grammy Award-winning record producer, and seasoned recording engineer. As of this article, he has engineered over one hundred albums and has produced over eighty. Among his many accomplishments, he credits his time performing with the legendary Dizzy Gillespie as a career-defining tenure. To this day, Lee is the executive and musical director of the Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars, Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, and the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Latin Experience.
It is clear that these talented men know how to put on a show and will be joined this year by Eric Alexander, Don Braden, Alex Collins, Steve Davis, Essiet Essiet Okon, Roberta Gambarini, Mark Gross, Freddie Hendrix, Karl Latham, Jeb Patton, Rufus Reid, Evan Sherman, Eren Terakubo, and Yotam Silberstein. The list will continue to grow until just a few days before the performance.
John Lee speaks with reverence and passion about these productions. The care taken to make sure that audiences receive a thrilling show comes through as he explains to me what the typical planning process looks like."Producing a show is kind of akin to directing a film. Not only are you putting people together, but the show is scripted," explains Lee. He goes on to detail how artists are sought after to join the lineup while others, excited at the opportunity to play for the year’s honoree, reach out to Lee and offer their talents outright. Lee then works to pair artists with one another, suggests songs for the set list (though ultimately the decision falls to the performers), and decides who plays when. Upon asking if audiences will hear from Paquito throughout the show, Lee says that it is up to Paquito! Typically, the honoree will close the show with a dedicated performance of their own after the Awards Ceremony, but these are musicians who love what they do, and sometimes they just can’t wait. You never know what surprises may appear during a live show!
At the time of publishing, this show is nearly sold out. If you’d like to see these Giants of Jazz, now is the time! In addition to standard tickets, the theater is offering a VIP Package for $120 that includes one reserved prime Orchestra ticket, access to a post-performance VIP Reception, plus a jam session with event musicians, a buffet, and one drink voucher in addition to the available cash bar. Tickets are limited.
