INTERVIEW: Arturo O’Farrill invites others on his jazz journey
Photo: The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, led by Arturo O’Farrill, will play The Town Hall on Friday, June 7. Photo courtesy of Krystal Conye / Provided by Cindy Byram PR with permission.
Multiple Grammy Award winner Arturo O’Farrill, the accomplished jazz artist and bandleader, has been on a lifelong musical journey to better understand the intricacies of his chosen art form. Some of his findings will be on wondrous display Friday, June 7, at The Town Hall in New York City, an event co-presented by Belongó. That night, he’ll be joined by the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, plus Hamilton de Holanda and Yamandú Costa, for an evening entitled Brazil String Theory. The purpose of the performance is to join the influential threads of Afro-Latin, Brazilian and jazz traditions into one diverse, infectious concert.
Prospective audience members should consider themselves invited because O’Farrill, in a recent email interview with Hollywood Soapbox, shared that he’s welcoming others on this journey and offering the gifts of these musical traditions.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see two streams connected which are usually seen as mutually exclusive,” O’Farrill wrote in an email. “The truth is that Brazilian music is as much Afro Brazilian as Latin jazz is Afro Latin. Mother Africa permeates all of our music, and the chance to reconnect these two tributaries of that source must not be missed.”
To justify the importance of jazz and Latin Jazz (for the record, O’Farrill stated that jazz is Latin jazz), the bandleader turns toward Jelly Roll Morton, an early pioneer. He said that Morton believed that without the “Spanish” tinge, jazz is impossible to play.
“The African diaspora reached many shores besides New Orleans,” he stated. “The enslaved peoples were also brought to Peru and Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and throughout the Indigenous lands. This results in music that is diverse, African-based and deeply joyful and resonant.”
No doubt one of the highlights at Friday’s concert will be the inclusion of Holanda and Costa. Holanda, for the unbeknownst, is a world-renowned mandolinist, while Costa is revered for his guitar work. They’ll join O’Farrill on stage with the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, and there’s no telling how the evening will evolve. But audience members should expect musical excellence and fun jazz vibes.
“Both of these maestro virtuosos are bringers of joy,” O’Farrill wrote. “Our planning sessions were thinly veiled celebrations. This usually means that the resultant gathering will be fierce!”
O’Farrill sees himself as a student of the “myriad approaches to music of the African diaspora.” He doesn’t use the word “practitioner” when talking about Latin jazz, probably because he’s in a perpetual state of learning, likening himself to a babe lost in the woods.
“I have formal classical training,” he stated. “When I was a kid, there were few ‘jazz’ or contemporary music programs. One apprenticed and sat at the foot of masters in order to learn. So, despite my formal training, I discovered what these masters knew. Music is a deep, infinite reality.”
He added: “I believe in keeping myself challenged, and so I practice the same way with the musicians I am privileged to share my life with. Keep it interesting, respect their time, strive to pay as well as one can and most of all respect them. The difficulties of training to be a good musician are tantamount to doctoral studies, but the resultant practice is not guaranteed. Their dedication to their craft inspires me to keep growing and to keep all us striving for growth.”
This Town Hall concert is all about challenging notions about jazz music and hoping that the audience embraces other models of the music genre. “This involves a careful dance of reassurance/challenge, challenge/reassurance,” he wrote. “As an educator, the last thing I want to do is teach from my dogma. The thing I really love to do is challenge my notions of what this art is and, if I’m lucky, bring others along on that journey.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra will join with Hamilton de Holanda and Yamandú Costa for Brazil String Theory on Friday, June 7, at The Town Hall in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
