About the event
Called a “remarkable New York institution” by The New York Times and “one of the best jazz orchestras in existence” by The New Yorker, the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra is led by multiple GRAMMY®-winning pianist, composer, and educator Arturo O’Farrill. Joining the orchestra for this special performance are the Villalobos Brothers, whose original compositions and arrangements masterfully fuse and celebrate the richness of Mexican folk music with the intricate harmonies of jazz and classical music.
Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
O’Farrill was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. His 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. O’Farrill’s well-reviewed and highly praised “Afro-Latin Jazz Suite” from the album CUBA: The Conversation Continues (Motéma) took the 2016 GRAMMY® for Best Instrumental Composition and the 2016 Latin GRAMMY® for Best Latin Jazz Album. His powerful “Three Revolutions” from the album Familia-Tribute to Chico and Bebo was the 2018 GRAMMY® winner for Best Instrumental Composition. Four Questions (ZOHO), is his first album 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 Radical Acts and Musical Devicancy, a four-concert series, including a newly commissioned composition. In 2020, his weekly concerts with the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, dubbed Virtual Birdland, topped 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.
“Mr. O’Farrill has honed the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra to handle dizzyingly complex music with earthy joy.” — The New York Times
Villalobos Brothers
The Villalobos Brothers have been acclaimed as one of today’s leading contemporary Mexican ensembles. Their virtuosic performances have delighted audiences throughout Latin America, India, Russia, and Canada and in more than 30 U.S. states. The ensemble has performed in historic venues and at legendary events, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Latin GRAMMY Awards, Davies Symphony Hall, Montreal Jazz Festival, the Ford Theatre in Hollywood, the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations, the New Victory Theatre on Broadway, San Jose Jazz Fest, Celebrate Brooklyn, the 66th FIFA Congress in Mexico City, the Blue Note Jazz Festival, and the Apollo Theatre. In 2018, they joined forces with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra for the Fandango at the Wall project. This ambitious undertaking, produced by Kabir Sehgal, united legendary international musicians for a live concert at the Tijuana-San Diego border wall, which resulted in a live album and documentary film to be released in 2019. The Villalobos Brothers recently premiered their Symphonic Project, performing sold-out concerts with both the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the Walla Walla Symphony. The ensemble has collaborated with legendary musicians, including GRAMMY® winners Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton, Antonio Sánchez, Regina Carter, Eduardo Magallanes, Dan Zanes, Sierra Hull, and Ana Tijoux. The Villalobos brothers are actively touring the United States, delivering a powerful message of love, brotherhood, and social justice with brilliance, cadence, and virtuosity. Their new album Somos was released in 2019.
