Diego Rivera is a world-class tenor and soprano saxophonist, composer, arranger, and educator. He teaches in and serves as Associate Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University. He is also director of the award-winning ensemble MSU Jazz Octet 1.
Rivera possesses a direct, robust tone that recalls the emotive "tough tenor" era of Johnny Griffin and Gene "Jug" Ammons; one can also hear the tonal influences of Ben Webster and the modal approach of John Coltrane in his soprano playing. Though he leads and performs with his own quartet, he is a member of Rodney Whitaker...