Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley

by Angelo Leonardi
March 17, 2025

Scoperto da Carla Bley nel 1979, quand'era ancora studente diciannovenne, e rimasto nei suoi gruppi per tre anni, Arturo O'Farrill ne celebra la memoria con quest'album ambizioso, che raccoglie due sue suites ed una ("Blue Palestine") che lui stesso commissionò alla grande autrice e bandleader nel 2019, quattro anni prima della sua morte. “Mundoagua" la composizione che apre il disco è stata scritta per commemorare l'Anno dell'acqua ed ha avuto la sua anteprima al Miller Theater di New ...

Arturo O'Farrill: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley

by Jack Bowers
February 11, 2025

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 ...

Arturo O’Farrill & Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra at Town Hall

by Ernest Barteldes
June 14, 2024

Arturo O' Farrill & Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra With guests Hamilton de Holanda, Yamandu Costa and Cyro Baptista Town Hall New York, NY June 7, 2024 Backed by the 18-piece Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, pianist Arturo O'Farrill started a celebration of Brazilian music with “Alafia," a Latin-tinged jazz tune before welcoming Cyro Baptista to the stage for a rendition of Hermeto Pascoal's “Bebe," a syncopated, northeastern Brazilian tune that showcased many of his ...

Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Four Questions

by Jack Bowers
May 25, 2020

The Four Questions addressed by composer / pianist Arturo O'Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra on its latest album were first posed in 1903 by W.E.B. DuBois in his book The Souls of Black Folk and are answered herein by the esteemed educator / historian / social activist Dr. Cornel West. For the record, the questions are “what does integrity do in the face of adversity and oppression, what does honesty do in the face of lies and deception, what does ...

Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Cuba: The Conversation Continues

by Karl Ackermann
October 16, 2015

“I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba...in part owing to my country's policies..." --President John F. Kennedy, October 1963 Revolution and musical genres share the characteristic of having an embryonic state. While the United States and Russia bore witness to the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and the symbolic end of the Cold War, ...

Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: The Offense Of The Drum

by Dan Bilawsky
May 28, 2014

The Offense Of The Drum may be the least cohesive record in Arturo O'Farrill's discography, but that's largely by design. Here, O'Farrill firmly adheres to his stated “artistic vision"--"to bend what the world knows as Afro Latin jazz over the acoustic horizon"--better than anywhere else in his discography. Guests galore and a belief in Afro Latin camaraderie help him realize that goal, resulting in the most intriguing and expansive offering that he's ever released. In some ways ...

Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra with Arturo O'Farrill: Una Noche Inolvidable

by Jack Bowers
October 4, 2006

It's never easy to replace a legend, especially when the legend happens also to be one's father. But Arturo O'Farrill, who doesn't want for courage or self-reliance, has seized the reins once held by his illustrious parent, the late Chico O'Farrill, and ridden the thoroughbred Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra into the winner's circle in the first-ever live recording from Jazz at Lincoln Center's state-of-the-art Frederick P. Rose Hall, an occasion that was truly Una Noche Inolvidable (an unforgettable night).

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Jazz-Con And Belongó Announce Partnership For Global Clave: The Spanish-speaking Jazz Connection

Source: Nu Jazz Publicity
September 2, 2025

Jazz-Con 2025, the international virtual jazz music business conference, is proud to announce a presenting partnership with Belongó, the Bronx-based nonprofit founded by Artistic Director and music legend, Arturo O'Farrill, and dedicated to advancing Latin and Spanish-speaking arts and culture, for the new session Global Clave: The Spanish-Speaking Jazz Connection. Taking place on Monday, September 15, 2025, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm (EST), this panel will explore the thriving jazz communities across Latin America, Spain, and Spanish-speaking communities in ...
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Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra to Celebrate 10th Anniversary Season in 2011/12

Source: Two for the Show Media
August 26, 2011

NEW YORK—The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance announced today that it will celebrate the 10th Anniversary season of the GRAMMY Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), directed by Arturo O'Farrill, in 2011/12 at Symphony Space on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The ALJO will present three landmark programs to celebrate its first decade of existence. On October 14 and 15, the Orchestra will pay tribute to Andy and Jerry González, founders of the pioneering, Bronx-born Fort Apache Band and arguably the most ...
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Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra Perform at the Make Music NY Festival - 6/21/09

Source: Two for the Show Media
June 10, 2009

Arturo O’Farrill and the Grammy-winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra return to Symphony Space for the Make Music NY Festival /Symphony Space Block Party on June 21st, 2009 Showtime: 1PM to 3 PM. “The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra sounds great with precision brass and saxophone work… a warm, cohesive sound.”
 --The New York Times 

 “This is the finest band I have ever performed with in my life. They make me feel as if I have returned to Cuba.”
 --Bebo Valdes ARTURO ...
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This Thursday & Friday! Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra

Source: Two for the Show Media
March 5, 2009

Musica Nueva II: Latin Jazz Across the Americas - Arturo O’Farrill and the GRAMMY WINNING Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra return to Symphony Space for a multicultural exploration of the future of Latin jazz, featuring guest composers and artists! Thursday March 5th, 2009 & Friday March 6th, 2009. Showtime: 8:00 PM “Mr. O’Farrill is a magnificent player sharp, splashy, and driving.”
 --The New York Times 

 “The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra sounds great with precision brass and saxophone work… a warm, cohesive ...
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Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Perform at Spa Little Theatre

Source: All About Jazz
February 11, 2009

Preeminent Latin jazz pianist and bandleader Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra perform at 8 p.m. on May 30 at the Spa Little Theatre in Saratoga Springs, NY. O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra are 2009 Grammy Award winners in the category of Best Latin Jazz Album' for their work, Song for Chico. Often referred to as the world's leading Latin jazz big band, the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra was founded by O'Farrill in 2001 for Wynton ...
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Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra for Three Nights at NYC's Symphony Space

Source: Two for the Show Media
September 18, 2007

Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra will be performing for three BIG nights at New York's Symphony Space in NYC on October 16, 2007, October 17, 2007, and October 18, 2007. All shows are 8:00 PM. These shows are the debut of their new residency at New York's Symphony Space. Harkening back to the days when mambo was king, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra brings the power of the big band to greatest hits, including Machito's “Mambo America," Tito Puente's ...
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