INFORMATION FOR
Grammy-winning saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera closes the spring 2026 Jazz Room series at William Paterson University in Wayne on Sunday, May 3 in a performance with the William Paterson Latin Jazz ensemble, conducted by Chico Mendoza. The concert begins at 3:00 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus.
Paquito D’Rivera began his musical career in his native Cuba, where he first earned worldwide recognition as a member of the all-star group Irakere. Since coming to the U.S. in the early 1980s, he has released more than 40 albums, earning numerous Grammy Awards. Equally recognized as a jazz and classical soloist and composer, he was the first artist to win Grammys in both the Latin Music and Best Classical Composition categories. He became an NEA American Jazz Master and was awarded the National Medal of the Arts in 2005, has been awarded several honorary doctorates, and is artistic director of jazz programming for the New Jersey Chamber Music Society.
Chico Mendoza is a pianist, vibist, and composer/arranger who has been at the center of New York’s Latin jazz scene. He has performed with Latin groups at Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, with George Benson and Stanley Turrentine at Newark Symphony Hall, and at numerous colleges and clubs. He was the leader of Ocho, a 1970s eight-piece Latin funk band, releasing the 1976 recording Ocho Featuring Chico Mendoza. His Latin Jazz Dream Band was in 1989. His fourth album, El Sonida, received a Latin Grammy nomination. Mendoza was an early host of the Salsa Meets Jazz concert series at the legendary Village Gate in New York City, bringing together historic Latin musicians and major jazz artists, featuring Mongo Santamaria, Herbie Mann, Ray Baretto, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Palmieri, McCoy Tyner, Johnny Pacheco, and many others. He also hosted the “Salsa Meets Jazz” radio show on WBGO Jazz Radio in Newark. Mendoza joined the William Paterson music faculty in fall 1980 and has led the Latin Jazz Ensemble since that time.
The concert will be preceded by “Sittin’ In,” the Jazz Room’s accompanying “meet the artist” concert preview featuring interviews with jazz artists and guest speakers. This informal discussion, free to all Jazz Room ticketholders, begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Shea Recital Hall.
Tickets are $28 for the general public, $22 for WP faculty, staff, alumni, and senior citizens, and free for WP students. For tickets or additional information, visit wp-presents.org, or contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973.720.2371 or boxoffice@wpunj.edu.
William Paterson University has been a flagship of jazz education for more than 50 years and is recognized internationally for its Jazz Studies Program and nationally acclaimed Jazz Room series of concerts each fall and spring.
The Jazz Room series is the longest-running program of its kind in the United States. Launched in 1978, the Jazz Room has welcomed more than 500 jazz legends to the stage, including Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Slide Hampton, Kenny Burrell, Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett, Clark Terry, Michael and Randy Brecker, the Vanguard Orchestra, and more. Concerts have encompassed the entire spectrum of jazz, from early jazz and swing to avant garde, and from intimate solo performances to big bands.
The performance series provides support for the University’s internationally renowned Jazz Studies Program, founded in 1973. The program draws students from across the United States and abroad under the current direction of Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap.
The Jazz Room at William Paterson University has been made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
