Grammy Award-winning composer, bandleader, and pianist Arturo O’Farrill brings the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble to Orchestra Hall for a one-night-only performance on the DSO’s Paradise Jazz Series
Single tickets on sale now at dso.org/jazz
Detroit, (November 3, 2022) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will continue its Paradise Jazz Series with a performance by seven-time Grammy Award-winning composer, bandleader, and pianist Arturo O’Farrill. O’Farrill will be joined by the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble for this one-night-only performance on Friday, November 18 at 8 p.m. at Orchestra Hall. Before the performance, O’Farrill will conduct a masterclass for the DSO’s Civic Youth Ensembles jazz students.
Following the legacy of his father, the legendary Havana-born bandleader Chico O'Farrill, Arturo O'Farrill is committed to breaching musical boundaries in search of genuine, elevated expression. The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble is an octet comprised of Arturo O’Farrill (piano), Vince Cherico (drums), Liany Mateo (bass), Carlos Maldonado (percussion), Keisel Jiménez (percussion), Rafi Malkiel (trombone), Iván Renta (tenor saxophone), and Jim Seeley (trumpet). Their repertoire honors the pioneers of Latin jazz, such as Mario Bauzá and Tito Puente, while progressing the genre with contemporary interpretations.
Please note: the DSO does not appear on this performance.
Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble will take place on Friday, November 18 at 8 p.m. in Orchestra Hall. Tickets for this performance start at $19. Tickets can be purchased at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Subscriptions for the 2022-2023 Paradise Jazz Series can be purchased on dso.org/jazz, beginning at $114 for the entire season.
Currently in its 23rd season, the Paradise Jazz Series is named for and honors the legacy of the Paradise Theatre, the historic Detroit jazz venue that was on the site of Orchestra Hall from 1941-1951. The DSO is one of few major American orchestras to present regular jazz programming on its main stage. Learn more about the series at dso.org/jazz.
2022-2023 SEASON DSO SAFETY POLICIES: The DSO no longer requires audiences to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend performances. Masks are optional although strongly recommended at DSO performances, particularly when Wayne County and surrounding communities are in the high or "red" category as defined by the CDC. The DSO asks audience members to do their part to create a safe environment for everyone and encourages those who are not feeling well to stay home.
The Paradise Jazz Series is supported by Huntington, MGM Grand Detroit, and DownBeat Magazine.
ARTURO O’FARRILL & THE AFRO LATIN JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Paradise Jazz Series
Friday, November 18 at 8 p.m.
Orchestra Hall
Arturo O’Farrill, trumpet
Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble, band
Seven-time Grammy Award-winning composer, bandleader, and pianist Arturo O'Farrill brings the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble (ALJE) to Orchestra Hall. Like his father, the legendary Havana-born bandleader Chico O'Farrill, Arturo O'Farrill is committed to breaching musical boundaries in search of genuine, elevated expression.
The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble (ALJE) is an octet made up of some of the most virtuosic musicians in jazz today. Their repertoire honors the pioneers of Latin jazz, like Mario Bauzá and Tito Puente, while keeping a strong foothold in progressing that music by performing contemporary compositions of the genre.
About Arturo O’Farrill
Arturo O’Farrill, pianist, composer, and educator, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. O'Farrill’s professional career began with the Carla Bley Band and continued as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte.
In 2007, he founded the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the performance, education, and preservation of Afro Latin music. Learn more about ALJA here: http://www.afrolatinjazz.org
In December 2010 O'Farrill traveled with the original Chico O’Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra to Cuba, returning his father’s musicians to his homeland. He continues to travel to Cuba regularly as an informal Cultural Ambassador, working with Cuban musicians, dancers, and students, bringing local musicians from Cuba to the US and American musicians to Cuba.
O'Farrill has performed with orchestras and bands including his own Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and the Arturo O’Farrill Sextet, as well as other orchestras and intimate ensembles in the US, Europe, Russia, Australia, and South America.
An avid supporter of all the Arts, O'Farrill has performed with Ballet Hispanico and the Malpaso Dance Company, for whom he has written three ballets. In addition, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company is touring a ballet entitled Open Door choreographed by Ron Brown to several of O'Farrill’s compositions and recordings. Ron Brown’s own Evidence Dance Company has commissioned O'Farrill to compose New Conversations, which premiered at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, MA.
O'Farrill has received commissions from Meet the Composer, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Philadelphia Music Project, The Apollo Theater, Symphony Space, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Young Peoples Chorus of New York, Columbia University, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
O'Farrill’s well-reviewed and highly praised Afro-Latin Jazz Suite from the album CUBA: The Conversation Continues (Motéma) took the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition and the 2016 Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. His powerful Three Revolutions from the album Familia-Tribute to Chico and Bebo was the 2018 Grammy Award (his sixth) winner for Best Instrumental Composition. O'Farrill’s current album Four Questions (ZOHO) is the first to embody all original compositions, including the title track, which features the brilliant orator Dr. Cornel West.
In 2019, O'Farrill was Artist in Residence for The Greene Space in New York City, for which he created a four-concert series including a newly commissioned composition. The series title was “Radical Acts and Musical Deviancy.”
In 2020 O'Farrill’s weekly concerts with the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, dubbed “Virtual Birdland,” top the list of 10 Best Quarantine Concerts in The New York Times.
O'Farrill is Professor of Global Jazz Studies and Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and has been honored as a Steinway Artist for many years.
About The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble
The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble (ALJE) is an octet made up of some of the most virtuosic musicians in jazz today, with a repertoire that honors the pioneers of Latin jazz, like Mario Bauzá and Tito Puente, while keeping a strong foothold in progressing that music by performing contemporary compositions of the genre. Over the past several years, pianist and Musical Director Arturo O’Farrill and the ALJE have developed an ongoing artistic collaboration with the Malpaso Dance Company from Havana, Cuba, creating and performing several distinctive programs including “Dreaming of Lions”, “Despedida” and “24 Hours and a Dog.” Much of this work will be featured on the ensemble’s debut album scheduled for release this year. The ALJE has performed internationally to critical acclaim, playing such festivals as the Cubadisco Festival (Havana, Cuba), the Luminato Festival (Toronto, Canada), Aperitivo in Concerto (Milán, Italy), Kampnagel Internationales Sommerfestival (Hamburg, Germany), and the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Becket, Massachusetts). The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble features Arturo O’Farrill on piano, Vince Cherico on drums, Liany Mateo on bass, Carlos Maldonado and Keisel Jiménez on percussion, Rafi Malkiel on trombone, Iván Renta on tenor saxophone, and Jim Seeley on trumpet.
About the DSO
The most accessible orchestra on the planet, the acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. As a community-supported orchestra, generous giving by individuals and institutions at all levels drives the continued success and growth of the organization. In January 2020, Italian conductor Jader Bignamini was named the DSO’s next music director to commence with the 2020-2021 season. Celebrated conductor, arranger, and trumpeter Jeff Tyzik is the orchestra’s Principal Pops Conductor, while Oscar-nominated trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard holds the Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair.
Making its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, the DSO offers a performance schedule that features PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. One of the world’s most acoustically perfect concert halls, Orchestra Hall celebrated its centennial in 2019-2020. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in seven metro area venues, as well as a robust schedule of eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings.
A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts, which also reaches tens of thousands of children with the Classroom Edition expansion. With growing attendance and unwavering philanthropic support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to embrace and inspire individuals, families, and communities through unsurpassed musical experiences.