Arturo O'Farrill (born June 22, 1960) is a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

musician, the son of

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which ...

musician, arranger and bandleader

Chico O'Farrill Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill (October 28, 1921 – June 27, 2001) was a Cuban composer, arranger, and conductor, best known for his work in the Latin idiom, specifically Afro-Cuban jazz or "Cubop", although he also composed traditional jazz pieces a ...

,Larry Rohter. "A Family's Legacy, Afro-Cuban Jazz."
''New York Times'', April 29, 2011. (accessed April 19, 2014). and pianist, composer, and director for the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.
"The Orchestra". (accessed April 17, 2014). He is best known for his contributions to contemporary

(more specifically

Afro-Cuban jazz Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban music has deep roots in African ritual and rhythm.{{cite web, Cuba: Son and Afro-Cuban ...

), having received

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s and nominations,''Arturo O'Farrill's Website''.
"About Arturo". (accessed April 19, 2014). though he has trained in other forms such as

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians duri ...

and experimented briefly with hip hop.''Concord Music Group''.
"About Arturo O'Farril". (accessed April 22, 2014).

Early life

Arturo O'Farrill was born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, Mexico, to Lupe Valero and Chico O'Farrill on June 22, 1960.Cristóbal Díaz Ayala and Barry Kernfeld. "O'Farrill, Chico". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed., 2003. His mother Lupe was a singer from Mexico, and his father Chico was a jazz trumpeter and composer originally from

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba.Agustin Gurza
"Chico O'Farrill; Helped Lead Transformation of Latin Jazz".
''Los Angeles Times'', June 30, 2001, (accessed April 15, 2014). The family lived in Mexico until 1965, when they moved to New York City. Here, his father Chico found work as music director for the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

program "Festival of Lively Arts", where he formed relationships with jazz musicians

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but a ...

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

, and

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre ...

. However Chico also worked with many

Latin music Latin music ( Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Spain and Portugal) and the Latino United States inspired by Latin Amer ...

artists such as

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...

, Machito,

Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during ...

, and

La Lupe Lupe Victoria Yolí Raymond (23 December 1936 – 29 February 1992), better known as La Lupe, was a Cuban singer of boleros, guarachas and Latin soul, known for her energetic, sometimes controversial performances. Following the release of he ...

, which, for son Arturo, led to a "psychotic upbringing" in which he was unsure of his own cultural identity.Feliciano Garcia and Martin Garcia Flores. "Cafecito: A conversation with musician Arturo O'Farrill".
''NBC Latino''. November 14, 2012. (accessed April 20, 2014). At the age of six O'Farrill began taking piano lessons at the behest of his parents, initially disliking them very strongly before warming up to the instrument and deciding around the age of 12 that he wanted to be a career musician. Eschewing his father's musical style, O'Farrill instead chose to focus on other forms of jazz, listening to artists such as

Bud Powell Earl Rudolph "Bud" Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Along with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke and Dizzy Gillespie, Powell was a leading figure in the development of mode ...

and

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

.Alexander Stewart. ''Making the Scene: Contemporary New York City Big Band Jazz''. Berkeley: University of California Press (2007): 244. He also began to receive a formal musical education around this time, graduating from LaGuardia High School for Music and Art and then studying at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in m ...

, the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College (from which he received the Distinguished Alumnus Medal), and the

Aaron Copland School of Music The Aaron Copland School of Music is one of the oldest departments at Queens College, founded when the College opened in 1937. The department's curriculum was originally established by Edwin Stringham, and a later emphasis on the analytical sy ...

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

.Zoho Music.
"Arturo O'Farrill". ''Artists''. (accessed April 19, 2014).

Later life and career

Career as a sideman

In 1979, O'Farrill was playing in an upstate New York bar when he was noticed by jazz pianist, organist, and composer

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...

. Impressed with his talent, Bley recruited the then 19-year-old O'Farrill to play with her band in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

even though she was uncertain whether or not he could read music. He remained with her band for three years afterwards. In addition to his regular role as a pianist, O'Farrill sometimes played organ with the band. After leaving the Carla Bley Big Band, O'Farrill found solo work with artists such as

, Howard Johnson,

Steve Turre Stephen Johnson Turre (born September 12, 1948, in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American jazz trombonist and a pioneer of using seashells as instruments, a composer, arranger, and educator at the collegiate-conservatory level. For years, Turre has be ...

, and

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in ...

.''The Kennedy Center''.
"Arturo O'Farrill". (accessed April 20, 2014). In 1987 O'Farrill found long-term employment as

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internati ...

's music director.Scott Yanow. ''Afro-Cuban Jazz: Third Ear – The Essential Listening Companion''. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books (2000): 77. In the early 1990s, O'Farrill slowly began to return to his Latin roots. While struggling to record a "Latin jingle", O'Farrill contacted bassist Andy Gonzalez, who, according to O'Farrill, "took me through the history of Latin piano." After this, Andy and brother Jerry began to feature O'Farrill in their band as a substitute for regular pianist

Larry Willis Lawrence Elliott Willis (December 20, 1942 – September 29, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He performed in a wide range of styles, including jazz fusion, Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop, and avant-garde. Willis was born in New York Ci ...

Afro Latin jazz

Not long after his stint with Andy and Jerry Gonzalez's Fort Apache Band, Arturo O'Farrill joined his father Chico O'Farrill to aid in the latter's late-career musical revival. In his frail state Chico was unable to manage his own affairs, and so he began to delegate the hiring of his musicians to outside contractors.Alexander Stewart. ''Making the Scene: Contemporary New York City Big Band Jazz''. 243. Seeing this, Arturo O'Farrill stepped in on his father's behalf and assembled what became known as the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. In 1995 he was named pianist and music director of the orchestra. In 1997 the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra began to play at Birdland each Sunday night,Alexander Stewart. ''Making the Scene: Contemporary New York City Big Band Jazz''. 227. and when his father died in 2001 Arturo became bandleader.Jack Bowers
O'Farrill and the Chico O'Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra: Final Night at Birdland".
''All About Jazz''. August 15, 2013. (accessed April 21, 2014). In 2001, Wynton Marsalis – artistic director of the

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center in New York City. The organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center in October 2004. Wynton Marsalis is the artistic director and the leader of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orches ...

program and musical director of the

Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is an American big band and jazz orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis. The Orchestra is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a performing arts organization in New York City. History In 1988 the Orchestra was formed as ...

– sought the help of Arturo O'Farrill for an upcoming themed concert titled "The Spirit of Tito Puente".''Jazz/Not Jazz: The Music and Its Boundaries''. Eds. David Ake, Charles Hiroshi Garrett, and Daniel Ira Goldmark. Berkeley: University of California Press (2012): 93. Despite O'Farrill's best efforts, though, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra was simply not equipped to play Latin jazz: Following this concert, Marsalis offered O'Farrill the opportunity to form and lead an Afro-Cuban jazz band that would perform regularly at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

, which O'Farrill accepted.''Jazz/Not Jazz: The Music and Its Boundaries''. 96. He named the new band the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), and opted for traditional jazz big band instrumentation with the addition of a three-piece Cuban percussion section. In 2005 Arturo O'Farrill released his first album with the ALJO, ''Una Noche Inolvidable'', for which he received a Grammy nomination in the category "

Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album The Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the tropical latin music ...

".''Afro Latin Jazz Alliance''.
"Recordings". (accessed April 21, 2014). In 2007, O'Farrill and the ALJO left Jazz at Lincoln Center "to pursue its own educational and performance opportunities,"' moving their performances to New York's

Symphony Space Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (also called Pe ...

.Larry Blumenfel
"Arturo O'Farrill's Tidy Cottage is Fast Becoming a Castle"
''Blouin Artinfo''. December 6, 2013. (accessed April 20, 2014). That same year, he was appointed assistant professor of jazz at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

, and he established the non-profit organization the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, which provides instruments and musical lessons for New York City public school students. In 2008 O'Farrill released his second album with the ALJO, the Grammy-winning '' Song for Chico'', and also took up residency as an assistant professor at State University of New York at Purchase. In December 2010 Arturo O'Farrill travelled to Cuba with his mother, sons, and the Chico O'Farrill Afro Cuban Orchestra in order to bring his father's music back to the island.Larry Blumenfeld

"NYC Pianist Arturo O'Farrill Finds Himself in Cuba, and Brings His Father Home". ''Village Voice''. February 23, 2011. (accessed April 19, 2014. There, the band headlined the 26th Havana International Jazz Plaza Festival. In 2011, once he had returned from Cuba, O'Farrill directed the Chico O'Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra's final show at Birdland, capping 15 straight years of regular performances. Later that year he released his third Grammy-nominated album with the ALJO titled ''40 Acres and a Burro''. In 2014, Arturo O'Farrill and the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra won the

Latin Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Album The Latin Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Album is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists ...

for ''Final Night at Birdland''. In 2015, Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra won a

Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the Latin jazz ...

for ''The Offense of the Drum''. On August 21, 2015, Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra released ''Cuba: The Conversation Continues'', which was recorded in Havana 48 hours after President Obama announced his plan to normalize relations between the U.S. and Cuba. The album was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album The Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album has been presented since 1961. From 1962 to 1971 and 1979 to 1991 the award title specified instrumental performances. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works ...

in 2016.

Musical style

Unlike his father, whose music was undeniably Afro-Cuban in nature, Arturo O'Farrill's casts a wider net, capturing sounds from throughout Latin America. Reflective of big band traditions in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...

, the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

, Mexico, and elsewhere,''Jazz/Not Jazz: The Music and Its Boundaries''. 97. his music is described as stylistically "pan-Latin" by critic Dan Bilawsky.Dan Bilawsky
Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: 40 Acres And A Burro".
''All About Jazz''. February 4, 2011. (accessed April 20, 2014). Philip Booth of ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growt ...

'' writes that the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's 2011 record ''40 Acres and a Burro'' "has the big-band digging deeper into the textures and rhythms of South America and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...

" than ever before.Philip Booth
"Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: 40 Acres and a Burro".
''JazzTimes''. July 29, 2011. (accessed April 21, 2014).

Personal life

O'Farrill lives in New York City with his wife Alison Deane, a trained classical pianist, and sons Zachary (a drummer) and Adam O'Farrill (a trumpeter), who formed the O'Farrill Brothers Band.Dan Bilawsky
"The O'Farrill Brothers Band: Sensing Flight".
'All About Jazz''. January 12, 2013. (accessed April 21, 2014). On August 14, 2015, O'Farrill was among those who were invited to witness the moment the U.S. flag was raised over a reopened U.S. Embassy in Cuba for the first time in 54 years.

Awards and honors

, - , , , '' Una Noche Inolvidable'' , ,

, , , - , , , '' Song for Chico'' , , Best Latin Jazz Album , , , - , , , '' 40 Acres and a Burro'' , ,

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album The Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album has been presented since 1961. From 1962 to 1971 and 1979 to 1991 the award title specified instrumental performances. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works ...

, , , - , , , '' Final Night at Birdland'' , , Best Instrumental Performance , , , - , , , '' The Offense of the Drum'' , , Best Latin Jazz Album , , , - , , , '' Three Revolutions'' , ,

Best Instrumental Composition The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (including its previous names) has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of an original piece of music (not an adaptation), first released during the eligibility year. I ...

, , , - , rowspan="2",

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, , ''

Four Questions Ma Nishtana ( he, מה נשתנה) are the first two words in a phrase meaning "Why is tonight different from all other nights?" The phrase appears at the beginning of each line of The Four Questions, traditionally asked via song by the youngest ...

'' , , Best Latin Jazz Album , , , - , "Baby Jack" , ,

, ,

Discography

As leader

* 1999 ''Blood Lines'' (

Milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

) * 2000 ''A Night in Tunisia'' (

32 Jazz 32 Records was a record label established in 1995 by record producer Joel Dorn and attorney Robert Miller. Its 32 Jazz imprint released a successful series of compilation albums. It was named for Dorn's favorite sports number. It also released n ...

) * 2004 ''Cumana'' (

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...

) * 2005 ''Live in Brooklyn'' ( Zoho Music) * 2005 ''Una Noche Inolvidable'' ( Palmetto) * 2005 ''The Jim Seeley/Arturo O'Farrill Quintet'' (Zoho Music) * 2008 '' Song for Chico'' (Zoho Music) * 2009 ''Risa Negra'' (Zoho Music) * 2011 ''40 Acres and a Burro'' (Zoho Music) * 2012 ''The Noguchi Sessions'' (Zoho Music) * 2013 ''Final Night at Birdland'' (Zoho Music) * 2014 ''The Offense of the Drum'' ( Motéma) * 2015 ''Cuba: The Conversation Continues'' (Motéma) * 2017 ''Familia (Tribute to Bebo + Chico)'' with Chuco Valdez (Motéma) * 2018 ''Fandango at the Wall'' (Resilience)

As sideman

With

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as La ...

, Michael Philip Mossman, and Patato Valdez * 2001 ''The Orisha Suite'' (Connector) With

* 1982 ''Live!'' (ECM) * 1983 ''Mortelle Randonnee'' (Mercury) * 1984 ''I Hate to Sing'' (ECM) With

* 1995 ''Pure Emotion'' (Milestone) * 1999 ''Heart of a Legend'' (Milestone) * 2000 ''Carambola'' (Milestone) With

Bebo Valdés Dionisio Ramón Emilio Valdés Amaro (October 9, 1918 – March 22, 2013), better known as Bebo Valdés, was a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was a central figure in the golden age of Cuban music, especially due to his big b ...

* 2011 ''Chico & Rita'' (Calle 54)

References

External links

*
Official siteAfro Latin Jazz Alliance's web siteAll About Jazz biography of Arturo O'Farrill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ofarrill, Arturo 1960 births American people of Cuban descent People from Mexico City Musicians from Brooklyn Latin jazz bandleaders Latin jazz pianists Latin jazz composers American jazz bandleaders American jazz pianists American male pianists American jazz composers American male jazz composers Grammy Award winners Milestone Records artists Zoho Music artists Living people Latin Grammy Award winners Palmetto Records artists 20th-century American pianists Mexican people of Irish descent Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Motéma Music artists Brooklyn College alumni Blue Note Records artists