Arturo O'Farrill

An veteran figure of the Afro-Cuban jazz movement, Arturo O'Farrill was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. The son of big band leader Chico O'Farrill, Arturo was educated at the Manhattan School of Music and the Brooklyn College Conservatory. From 1979-1983, he played piano with the Carla Bley Big Band; O'Farrill then went on to develop his skills 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, O'Farrill agreed to direct Chico O'Farrill's Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, which has been in residence at New York City's Birdland nightclub since the late '90s; the band also performed throughout the world. As a bandleader in his own right, O'Farrill recorded material for such labels as Milestone Records, 32 Jazz, and M & I. Those recordings (Blood Lines, A Night in Tunisia, and Cumana) provide listeners with an overview of the musical environment in which O'Farrill was raised. He also made appearances 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 N.Y.C. metropolitan schools. He again participated in this educational tour in 2002 and continued to direct the orchestra that preserved much of his father's music. 2008 saw him partnering with vocalist Claudia Acuña for In These Shoes, a stylish offering of jazz and Latin music.

from Wikipedia:

Arturo O'Farrill is a pianist, the son of Latin jazz musician and bandleader Chico O'Farrill. He formerly worked with Carla Bley and eventually took over his father's band. Arturo went on to form the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, which played at Lincoln Center. Under his direction the group recorded the Grammy-nominated album Noche Involvidable in 2005. In 2007, O'Farrill left Lincoln Center to form his own non-profit, the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. Under the new institution, O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra released their second album Song for Chico in 2008, which won a Grammy Award for "Best Latin Jazz Album" at the 2009 Grammy Awards. In 2011, O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra released their third album "40 Acres and a Burro," which was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album." He was also a professor of jazz at The University of Massachusetts Amherst and SUNY Purchase.

He lives with his wife and two children in Brooklyn.