Arturo O’Farrill, an extraordinary pianist, admits he came out of the bebop school of playing, a Bud Powell disciple, and his strong chops would attest to that. He didn’t pursue the music of his father—the great Chico O’Farrill—in his younger days, but he came upon it as he studied the music. He came to not only appreciate it, but his excellent bands embody it.

The Latin roots and influences Arturo O’Farrill so diligently and eloquently reflects today didn’t come about via some discovery in the 1940s. Sure, when Dizzy Gillespie encountered the captivating rhythms of Cuba in that golden age of jazz, he began to highlight them, especially after hiring percussionist Chano Pozo. The rhythms spread rapidly, as Dizzy was a major figure whom people religiously followed. But O’Farrill notes that the influences were there at the beginning of jazz and are a part of its essential fabric.

What Has He Been Up To?

He’s led two Latin big bands, one celebrating his father’s music (the Chico O’Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra) and the other—the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra—examining more broad influences. The latter’s Una Noche Inolvidable (An Unforgettable Night), (Palmetto Records, 2005) was nominated for a 2006 Grammy and its Song for Chico (Zoho Music, 2008) – pictured on the right – won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.

Arturo O’Farrill deals with the whole breadth of jazz in his projects, whether with small or large groups. But he’s a keeper of the Latin flame, for sure. A recent live performance of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra showed it as all-inclusive. Different styles of music had their moments in various numbers. Different Latin rhythms. Straight bebop. Wild and mild. And there was humor as well. It’s an exciting aggregation but, even on the heels of its Grammy win, the best may be yet to come.

Background:

O’Farrill was educated at the Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory, and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Growing up in New York City (he was born in Mexico), he had the typical piano influences common to young aspiring musicians: Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Herbie Nichols and Thelonious Monk, among many others. He also likes classical pianist Arturo Benedetti Michalangeli.

O’Farrill played piano with the Carla Bley Big Band from 1979 through 1983. He also performed with a variety of others, including Gillespie, Steve Turre, Freddy Cole, Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, Lester Bowie and Harry Belafonte.

O’Farrill has also become iinvolved in education and hopes to do what he can to present the music as art in an accessible fashion.

“The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance has residencies in
the New York City public school system. I travel
all over the country. We do a lot of educational
work. I’m also a professor of jazz studies at
Purchase University, the State University of New
York. I’m very committed to education. Not jazz
education—just education of the mind. I
challenge students. I give them different
interpretations of the history of jazz. I tell them
they are living pages in the history of jazz. Jazz
was not invented by one person. It was not
limited to one geographic area.”

But he continues to push for the recognition and appreciation of the Latin elements that are part of his heritage, and the heritage of the music.

“It is incredibly important to fight for cultural
truth. What’s interesting to me is that if you put
(the music) into the hands of a guy like Chico O’Farrill
or a really gifted composer … in his hands, you get
this thing where he creates pieces that as much
listenable-to as danceable-to. It’s almost the perfect
blend of what jazz is. It’s music for the head, it’s music
for the feet, it’s music for the heart, it’s music for the
hands. It transcends the experience of passive listening.”

For more information about Arturo O’Farrill, visit his website.

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