Zack O'Farrill

Biography
Articles

Mali Obomsawin: Automatic

by Don Ball
October 24, 2026

The cover of Mali Obomsawin's Automatic finds her in a room surrounded by cultural influences such as her bass and traditional ash basket splints and revolutionary artifacts like Marxist literature, grenades, and the Mohawk Warrior Society flag. A provocative cover for a provocative album where Obomsawin pulls together a rich musical tapestry that is difficult to define or label but which is wildly compelling to listen to. Obomsawin, a citizen of the Odanak community of Abenaki Nation in ...

Album Review

Adam O' Farrill: Visions of Your Other

Read "Visions of Your Other" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
February 13, 2023

Nella famiglia la musica è di casa: ritroviamo il padre, Arturo O'Farrill, pianista e compositore vincitore di Grammy, il nonno, Chico O'Farrill, leggendario bandleader cubano, Allison Deane, la mamma, pianista classica, Zack O'Farrill, il fratello maggiore, batterista. Non stupisce che anche il “piccolo" Adam (classe 1994) abbia iniziato a percorrere giovanissimo quei sentieri frequentando e registrando con maestri del calibro di Rudresh Mahanthappa, Mary Halvorson, Mulatu Astatke, Stephan Crump etc... fino a mettere in piedi un quartetto denominato Stranger Days ...

Album Review

Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble: Dreaming In Lions

Read "Dreaming In Lions" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
October 8, 2021

Music for dance comes in a variety of forms. At one end of the spectrum are abstract soundscapes composed without reference to the choreography with which they share the stage; an example being John Cage's work with the choreographer Merce Cunningham. At the other end of the spectrum is music written in close collaboration with the choreographer; an example being Igor Stravinsky's work for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, which reached its peak in 1910 with The Firebird, jointly realized by ...

Album Review

True East: First EP

Read "First EP" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
June 4, 2020

The debut release from collective trio True East is a patchwork party inviting gut-level utterances, punch-drunk strides, Latin-leaning grooves, and post-bop pronouncements to rejoice in each other's company. Engaged in near-unmitigated acts of creativity, trombonist Dan Lehner, bassist Ran Livneh and drummer Zack O'Farrill create an atmosphere rife with quick wit, raunchy rejoinders, catchy riffs and mindfully stumbling sentiments. But of greater importance than any specific suggestion(s), they flesh out a trio dynamic where there's trust and understanding built into ...