The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Arturo O'Farrill, Director and Pianist
Bob Porcelli, alto sax
Erica Von Kleist, alto sax
Willie Williams, tenor sax
Ivan Renta, tenor sax
Jason Marshall, baritone sax
Michael Philip Mossman, trumpet
Jim Seeley, trumpet
Seneca Black, trumpet
Gary Valente, trombone
Tokunori Kagiwara, trombone
Jose Davila, trombone
Douglas Purviance, bass trombone
Ricardo Rodriguez, bass
Vince Cherico, drums
Tony Rosa, percussion
Jimmy Delgado, percussion
Photo: © John Abbott
jazz, latin, Cuban, big band, woodwinds, brass
Bar Trivia hosted by TriviaTryst
Wed, May 22 at 8:30 pm
Wed, May 29 at 8:30 pm
Kayte Grace
Thu, Jun 13 at 8:30 pm
Thu, Jun 27 at 8:30 pm
Il Trionfo dell'Onore ("Honor Wins Out")
Wed, May 22 at 8 pm
Thu, May 23 at 8 pm
The Leviathan: A Sound Journey with Tom Kenyon
Sat, May 25 at 1 pm
The Hurt No More Conference, Featuring Kim Burrell
Sat, May 25 at 2 pm
Verdi's Ernani
Wed, May 29 at 7:30 pm
Thu, May 30 at 7:30 pm
Fri, May 31 at 7:30 pm
Sat, Jun 1 at 7:30 pm
New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra
Thu, May 30 at 8 pm
Who Ordered This?
Thu, May 30 at 9 pm
The Chelsea Symphony featuring Mark O'Connor
Sat, Jun 1 at 7 pm
Dan Levinson's Jam Session of the Millennium
Mon, Jun 3 at 7:15 pm
Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra – A New Perspective
Harkening back to the days when mambo was king, Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra brings the power of the big band to greatest hits, including Machito's "Mambo America," Tito Puente's "Mas Bajo," Mario Bauza's "Sambia" plus music by rising stars Dafnis Prieto, Papo Vazquez and Tom Harrell.
Performance playlist:
- Introducing The Latin Jazz Orchestra
Mambo In
A Night in Tunisia
Cuban Blues
Song for Chico
Caravan
Mas Bajo
Laura Kaminsky interviews Arturo O'Farrill
Sambia
Tanguango
Knots
The AfroCuban Jazz Suite #2
40 Acres and a Burro
Arturo O'Farrill (pianist and educator and musical director of the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra) was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Educated at the Manhattan School of Music and the Brooklyn College Conservatory, Arturo played piano with the Carla Bley Big Band from 1979 through 1983. He then went on to develop as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists including Wynton Marsalis, Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Turre, Papo Vazquez, The Fort Apache Band, Lester Bowie, and Harry Belafonte.
In 1995, Arturo agreed to direct the band that preserved much of his father's music, Chico O'Farrill's Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, which has been in residence at New York City's Birdland for the past few years as well as performing throughout the world.
Besides recording three albums as a leader for Milestone Records, 32 Jazz, and M & I (Bloodlines, A Night in Tunisia, and Cumana Bop), Arturo has appeared on numerous records including Habanera with Alberto Shiroma, and the soundtrack to the critically-acclaimed movie Calle 54. Arturo was a special guest soloist at three landmark Jazz at Lincoln Center concerts: Afro-Cuban Jazz: Chico O'Farrill's Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, November 1995; Con Alma: The Latin Tinge in Big Band Jazz, September 1998; and the 2001 Jazz at Lincoln Center Gala: The Spirit of Tito Puente, November 2001.
As part of Symphony Space’s education program, Arturo O’Farrill is one of six artists participating in our Curriculum Arts Project (CAP) in Latin American Studies. CAP integrates the arts as part of social studies classes for New York City public school children in grades 2-12. In March 2002, he was also the featured artist in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jazz in the Schools Tour, when he led a Latin jazz quintet for 24 educational performances that reached over 5,000 people throughout NYC metropolitan schools.
