Arturo O’Farrill is arguably New York City’s most important Latin jazz musician. It’s not just because of his talent, wealth, fame, or Grammy wins. He has plenty of all that, but because Arturo gives the most back to the community. He is a champion of our people.
Maestro O’Farrill is the founder of Belongó (formerly the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance), New York City’s most important Latin jazz organization. It preserves, teaches, and promotes Latin jazz traditions. The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra keeps the Latin big band format alive on Sunday nights at Birdland. His father Chico O’Farrill started that gig more than 20 years ago. As the Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra was Jazz at Lincoln Center’s original orchestra. Arturo’s children are also talented musicians. O’Farrill excels at connecting jazz to its deepest roots in the Caribbean, Latin America, Mother Africa, and even Arabia.
[Arturo, I haven’t forgotten you scolding me for saying another artist is New York’s most important Latin jazz musician. I felt a bit intimidated then, but you inspired me to learn more. I was wrong. You are the most important Latin jazz musician in New York City because you give. I’m not saying that to kiss your ring. It’s true. ~ Keith.]
Arturo O’Farrill in New York City
Bryant Park, Manhattan
Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra with special guests trumpeter Steven Bernstein, guitarist Nels Cline, and Dominican guitarist Yasser Tejeda; play a free concert of Latin jazz for dancing; for The Town Hall at Bryant Park, in Manhattan’s Garment District; on Friday, September 13, 2024, from 7-8:30pm. FREE. 🇨🇺 🇩🇴
South Bronx Cultural Festival
Arturo O’Farrill leads BronX BandA, Casita Maria’s 11-piece Latin jazz ensemble at the South Bronx Cultural Festival at Father Gigante Plaza in Longwood, The Bronx; on Friday, May 31, 2024 at 5:30pm. FREE. 🇨🇺
Blue Note Jazz Festival
Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra with Brazilian mandolinist Hamilton de Holanda and Brazilian guitarist Yamandu Costa, play the Blue Note Jazz Festival; at The Town Hall in Midtown, Manhattan; on Friday, June 7, 2024 at 8pm (7pm doors). From $59. bluenotejazz.com 🇨🇺 🇧🇷
Hostos Center
Los Pleneros de la 21 with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra celebrate Los Pleneros’ 40th Anniversary and “Una Navidad Nuyorkina;” at Hostos Center in Mott Haven, The Bronx; on Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 7pm. From $42. 🇨🇺 🇵🇷 🎄
New York Venues
O’Farrill has probably played everywhere, but these are some recent venues:
Arturo O’Farrill
Arturo O’Farrill is the son of Cuban Jazz composer Chico O’Farrill and Mexican singer Lupe Valero. Arturo was born in Mexico City in 1960 and came to New York when he was five years old. His father worked with great artists of the day so Arturo grew up somewhere in between New York’s storied jazz and Latin worlds.
Arturo eventually became a straight-ahead jazz pianist. In the 1990s, he began returning to his Latin roots. In 1995, Arturo joined his aging father’s band, the Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, as pianist and music director. The band started playing Sundays at Birdland in 1997. Arturo became bandleader when his father passed away in 2001.
Albums
The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra is Arturo’s core musical project. Almost every album they release is nominated for or wins a Grammy. That’s Grammy, not Latin Grammy. O’Farrill speaks loudly in the titles of his albums. They all have a profound second meanings.
Una Noche Inolvidable (2005)
Their first album Una Noche Inolvidable (An Unforgettable Night, Palmetto, 2005) earned a 2006 Grammy nomination for “Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album.”
Something didn’t work out at Lincoln Center, so the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra went its own way in 2007.
Song for Chico (2008)
The band’s second album Song for Chico (Zoho, 2008) won a 2009 Grammy award for “Best Latin Jazz Album.” Of course, Chico is Arturo’s father.
40 Acres and a Burro (2011)
In 2010, O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra made their first trip to Cuba. Their next album 40 Acres and a Burro (Zoho, 2011) earned a Grammy nomination for “Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.”
The title is a reference to the famous promise of “40 acres and a mule” that was made to former slaves at the end of the U.S. Civil War in 1865. The promise was retracted and Jim Crow brought back slavery in all, but name. It’s shameful that over 150 years after the end of slavery in the U.S., that racism continues in our country.
The Offense of the Drum (2014)
2014’s The Offense of the Drum won a Grammy for “Best Latin Jazz Album.”
The title refers to the fact that African slaves in the United States were not allowed to drum.
Eddie Palmieri once made the point that the Spaniards brought the Africans who put everyone to dance, but in the United States the drum was not allowed, so we got the Blues (the essential American musical form). Taking away the drum was an assault on African identity.
Attacking the human spirit was a means of control. It has to be said however, that while you could break African bodies, you could never break the African spirit. It still lives strongly in us.
Maybe that points to the way forward. Latin is a mix of Native American, European, and African. Native Americans often refused to be enslaved. We would rather die. Africans survived. Racism against African – Americans and Latinos is easily seen to be two different things, but it’s really the same thing. Maybe by energizing the African in us and joining together as Africans and Latinos, we can overcome.
Cuba: The Conversation Continues (Motéma, 2015)
O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra released Cuba: The Conversation Continues in 2015 and won another Grammy for “Best Latin Jazz Album.”
Chico O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra keep getting recognized for the powerful way they connect Jazz and Latin. As the band matures, they dig ever deeper into their Latin American roots.
Three Revolutions (2017)
Three Revolutions (Motéma, 2017) is a collaboration with Chucho Valdes who is another Afro-Cuban Jazz family legend.
The album won a 2018 Grammy for “Best Instrumental Composition.”