Arturo O'Farrill: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley

Mundoagua, the latest album by composer and pianist Arturo O'Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, is subdivided into three suites, the second of which is the four-movement "Blue Palestine," written and arranged by another celebrated composer and pianist, Carla Bley, a leading light in the avant-garde free jazz movement of the mid-twentieth century, who died of cancer in October 2023.

The opening suite, "Mundoagua," commissioned by the Columbia University School of the Arts in 2018 to commemorate the Year of Water and recorded four years later alongside the others, was written by O'Farrill, as was the three-part "Dia de las Muertos," which closes the album and whose inspiration, O'Farrill writes, was a book about the Aztecs. While the music is varied and panoramic in its scope and purpose, an Afro Latin undercurrent is perceptible from start to finish, even on those numbers written by Bley, whose roots were more West Coast than Afro or Latin. Bley's daughter, pianist Karen Mantler, performs with vibraphonist Patricia Brennan on the haunting third section of "Blue Palestine."

While all of the music is thematic—designed to exemplify a given concept or event—that becomes largely irrelevant once the orchestra digs into O'Farrill's and Bley's kinetic themes and stylish charts—which, it should be noted, are not always easy on the ears or comprehension of the beholder. There is dissonance aplenty, especially on the second movement of "Mundoaga," in which several members of the orchestra play divisive musical games, the freewheeling last section of "Blue Palestine" and the volatile opening movement of "Dia de las Muertos." It is, however, dissonance in service to a predetermined game plan, one that O'Farrill and his ensemble appreciate and embrace.

There are moments of sublime passion and beauty as well, as exemplified by the aforementioned Part Three of "Blue Palestine" or the lyrical second movement of "Dia de las Muertos," introduced by Sergio Ramirez' mellow guitar and featuring Rachel Therrien's expressive trumpet. Interspersed are nimble passages of Afro Latin perception and power, suitably addressed by the orchestra and a number of inventive soloists including the full trumpet section on the album's opener, Movement I of "Mundoagua." Trumpeter Adam O'Farrill is showcased on Part Four of "Blue Palestine," trombonist Abdulrahman Amer on the third and last movement of "Dia de las Muertos," which closes the session.

Although some may find the music tasteful and pleasing, others somewhat turbulent and disagreeable, it is clear that O'Farrill and his orchestra accomplished what they set out to do, which was to honor Bley's vision and virtuosity while producing an album of stylish and entertaining Afro Latin jazz. Not a classic, but one in which the pros easily outweigh the cons.