Arturo O'Farrill

Jazz and Blues Artists Make a Slippery Impression at the 2018 Grammy Awards

By • Jan 28, 2018
Getty Images

The jazz and blues winners at the 60th Grammy Awards are in, and they mostly went to seasoned heads and strong favorites. But this ​year’s Grammys also reinforced just how flexible jazz and blues artists tend to be, moving across a range of categories and in a variety of styles. 

'Familia' Affair: Pianist and Composer Arturo O'Farrill in Conversation on NPR's Alt.Latino

By • Oct 6, 2017
Shahar Azran / Getty Images

It's hard to overstate the importance of both Bebo Valdes and Chico O'Farrill to Afro-Cuban jazz and Cuban music in general.

Valdes, who died in 2013 at age 94, was winning Grammys and Latin Grammys for his music right up near the end of his life. One contemporary Cuban pianist called him "the entire history of Cuban piano."

Arturo O'Farrill Brings His Octet to Morning Jazz, Drawing From a New Album with Chucho Valdés

By • Sep 13, 2017
Motema

Arturo O’Farrill makes music steeped in the pantheon of Afro-Latin culture. He can’t help it. It’s in his DNA.

Review: Arturo O'Farrill & Chucho Valdés, 'Familia: Tribute To Bebo & Chico'

By • Aug 31, 2017

Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Apple Music playlist at the bottom of the page.

It's impossible to overstate the importance of both Bébo Valdés and Chico O'Farrill to 20th century Afro-Cuban music and jazz.

Their rich and multi layered influence is evident in iconic compositions, big band arrangements written 60 years ago that still sound cutting edge, and piano playing that echo Cuban classical music and jazz pianist Bill Evans.

Trumpeter Adam O'Farrill on 'Stranger Days'

By • Mar 14, 2017

In the jazz world, the name O'Farrill is synonymous with Afro-Latin jazz royalty. Trumpeter Adam O'Farrill is the third generation of that royal family. He is the grandson of Chico O'Farrill — the legendary composer and arranger, one of the primary creators of Afro-Cuban jazz. His father, pianist Arturo O’Farrill, is a Grammy-winning artist, and founder of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. But our focus here is on Adam, who recently released an acclaimed debut album, Stranger Days.


Arturo O'Farrill: “We Need to Speak Out”

By • Jan 18, 2017
David Garten

Political expression isn’t a new impulse for pianist and composer Arturo O’Farrill, who leads the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. But he’s taking his most direct action yet with “Musicians Against Fascism,” a concert he has organized at Symphony Space. Scheduled for this Thursday, the eve of the presidential inauguration, it’s an act of protest involving more than a dozen notable jazz artists.