Arturo O'Farrill (pianist,
educator and musical director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center's
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.
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.
He also participated in this educational tour again from October
21 through November 1, 2002.
