Arturo O'Farrill

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arturo O'Farrill (2018)
Picture: Tore Sætre

Arturo O'Farrill (born June 22, 1960 in Mexico City ) is an American jazz pianist who is best known as the director of the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra .

Live and act

O'Farrill, son of Cuban composer Chico O'Farrill and singer Guadalupe “Lupita” Valero O'Farrill , who was born in the USA and grew up in Mexico , came to New York at the age of five , where he continued to grow up. There he trained at the Manhattan School of Music and the Brooklyn College Conservatory. He first played in the jazz band of the New York High School of Music and Art (alongside Marcus Miller and Omar Hakim ). From 1979 to 1983 he was a member of the Carla Bley Band, with whom he also performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival . He then played with Wynton Marsalis , Dizzy Gillespie , Steve Turré , Noel Pointer, Lester Bowie and Jerry Gonzalez & the Fort Apache Band. In 1987 he became the musical director of Harry Belafonte's band . In addition to his own combo, he also took over his father's Afro-Cuban Jazz Big Band in 1995 .

In 2002, at the suggestion of Wynton Marsalis, O'Farrill created the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra at Lincoln Center , which he took over. This formation's debut album, Noche Involvidable , was nominated for a Grammy in 2006. With the ensemble's second album, Song for Chico , dedicated to his father , he received the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album . In 2011 O'Farrill released the album 40 Acres and a Burro with the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra , which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album 2012. With the album The Offense of the Drum he won with the orchestra at the Grammy Awards 2015 for the second time in the category Best Latin Jazz Album . He received the third award in 2018 for his composition Three Revolutions together with Chucho Valdés .

He has taught at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and SUNY Purchase . His sons Adam (trumpet) and Zachary (drums), who are also musicians, can be heard on his album Risa Negra (2009).

Discographic notes

Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra
  • Una Noche Inolvidable (2005)
  • Song for Chico (2008)
  • 40 Acres and a Burro (2011)
  • The Offense of the Drum (2014)
  • Cuba: The Conversation Continues (2015)
  • Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Four Questions (Zoho. 2020)
other

Lexical entries

Web links

personal data
SURNAME O'Farrill, Arturo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES O'Farrill Valero, Arturo (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician and band leader
DATE OF BIRTH June 22, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Mexico city