Mario Rivera (musician) City at the age of 67. With Junior Cook With Dizzy Gillespie With Eddie Palmieri With Tito Puente & Eddie Palmieri With The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project Mario Rivera (musician) Mario Rivera (July 22, 1939 - August 10, 2007) was a musician, composer and arranger. He was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Although best known as a saxophonist, Rivera doubled on all saxophones family (soprano, alto, tenor and baritone), but he lived as a multi-instrumentalist mastering instruments as C flute, G flute, piccolo, trumpet, piano, vibraphone, melodica, drums, tambora, timbales, bongó, and congas. Rivera was 22 years old when
Dizzy Gillespie time in Calloway's band, Gillespie started writing big band music for Woody Herman and Jimmy Dorsey. He then freelanced with a few bands, most notably Ella Fitzgerald's orchestra, composed of members of the Chick Webb's band. Gillespie did not serve in World War II. At his Selective Service interview, he told the local board, "in this stage of my life here in the United States whose foot has been in my ass?" He was classified 4-F. In 1943, he joined the Earl Hines band. Composer Gunther Schuller said, Gillespie said of the Hines band, "[p]eople talk about the Hines band