Chico O’Farrill
| Arturo O'Farrill | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Arturo O'Farrill Valero |
| Born |
June 22, 1960 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Genres | Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban jazz, big band |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, bandleader |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Motéma Music, Zoho Music, Milestone, 32 Jazz |
| Associated acts | Chico O'Farrill, Carla Bley, Harry Belafonte, Jerry Gonzalez, Andy Gonzalez, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra |
| Website | arturoofarrill |
Arturo O'Farrill (born June 22, 1960) is a jazz musician, the son of Latin jazz musician, arranger and bandleader Chico O'Farrill, and current pianist, composer, and director for the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra. He is best known for his contributions to contemporary Latin jazz (more specifically Afro-Cuban jazz), having received two Grammy Awards and four Grammy nominations for his work in the genre, though he has also trained in other musical forms such as free jazz and even experimented briefly with hip hop.
Arturo O'Farrill was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to Lupe Valero and Chico O'Farrill on June 22, 1960. His mother Lupe was a singer from Mexico, and his father Chico was a jazz trumpeter and composer originally from Havana, Cuba. The family lived in Mexico until 1965, when they moved to New York City. Here, his father Chico found work as music director for the CBS program "Festival of Lively Arts", where he formed relationships with jazz musicians Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan, and Stan Getz. However Chico also worked with many Latin music artists such as Tito Puente, Machito, Celia Cruz, and La Lupe, which, for son Arturo, led to a "psychotic upbringing" in which he was unsure of his own cultural identity. At the age of six O'Farrill began taking piano lessons at the behest of his parents, initially disliking them very strongly before warming up to the instrument and deciding around the age of 12 that he wanted to be a career musician. Eschewing his father's musical style, O'Farrill instead chose to focus on other forms of jazz, listening to artists such as Bud Powell and Chick Corea. He also began to receive a formal musical education around this time, graduating from LaGuardia High School for Music and Art and then studying at the Manhattan School of Music, the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College (from which he received the Distinguished Alumnus Medal), and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.
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