Afro-Latin Jazz @ Lincoln Center.

In the 2002-03 season, JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER (J@LC) inaugurates a new ensemble, the AFRO-LATIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA (ALJO). Led by pianist Arturo O’Farrill – son of the pioneering composer and bandleader Chico O’Farrill – the ALJO will perform several concerts throughout the season at venues in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Comprised of 18 prominent soloists from the Latin jazz scene, this large ensemble will play classics of the Afro-Latin jazz tradition, commission new works and lead
educational events.

With the founding of this new ensemble, Jazz at Lincoln Center helps to continue the long tradition of artistic collaboration between jazz and Latin musicians. O’Farrill, who learned a great deal from his father and also played and recorded in the Latin-infused bands of Dizzy Gillespie, connects the goals of the ALJO with that of his predecessors, stating “The idea behind the ALJO is to perform the very best of the compositions in the canon of the Afro-Latin genre. This genre will die if we do not support a new generation of composers, arrangers and instrumentalists, and there is no other orchestra in the world that has this kind of mission. A large part of our mandate is to provide an instrument for this new generation of composers, arrangers and instrumentalists to further progress this craft.”

Indeed, Afro-Latin rhythmic elements have been a part of jazz music from its beginnings. When referring to his own recordings from the 1920s, Jelly Roll Morton spoke of the “Spanish tinge.” In the 1930s, musicians like trumpeter/arranger Mario Bauza of Cuba infused the bands of Chick Webb, Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson and Cab Calloway with Latin rhythms. Later in the 1940s, Bauza also influenced bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in his decision to explore Afro-Latin music,
which Gillespie would continue to play for the remainder of his long career.

Singer Frank Grillo, known as Machito, led a popular Afro-Cuban jazz band with Bauza beginning in the late 1940s. These bands were probably the first to achieve a true blending of powerful Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz improvisation. As well, the late Chico O’Farrill was right in the thick of the Afro-Cuban and Latin waves that hit jazz in the late 1940s and 1950s. His sophisticated writing for Latin big bands of the early 1950s was often bold, brassy, and tense, and he could work capably in larger forms, composing the groundbreaking “Afro-Cuban Jazz Suites” in the early 1950s.

Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, who approached O’Farrill about creating the ALJO, expressed the viewpoint that the ALJO will help continue the innovations of musicians like Bauza and Machito, stating: “The ALJO is going to fill a great void on the New York cultural scene by playing the classics of the Afro-Latin Jazz tradition, commissioning new works and playing dances. This band is firmly connected to the essence of Latin jazz. They have great
soloists and first-class ensemble playing.”

The ALJO was debuted in a performance at Battery Park with the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in a special Fourth of July concert earlier this year. On October 25, they will perform at Hostos Center in the Bronx for their first concert in the 2002-03 season. The following day, they will appear at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts. Committed to playing dances, the ALJO will also perform at the Exit Nightclub on April 5, 2003 in a special concert for dancing. On May 9 and 10, 2003, they will make their Lincoln Center debut at Alice Tully Hall.

The members of the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra are Arturo O’Farrill, Music Director and Piano; Michael Philip Mossman, Trumpet; John Walsh, Trumpet; Jim Seeley, Trumpet; Ray Vega, Trumpet; Luis Bonilla, Trombone; Papo Vazquez, Trombone; Reynaldo Jorge, Trombone; Douglas Purviance, Trombone and Bass Trombone; Erica von Kleist, Alto Saxophone; Bobby Porcelli, Alto Saxophone; Pablo Calogero, Baritone Saxophone; Mario Rivera, Tenor Saxophone; Bob Franceschini, Tenor Saxophone; Andy Gonzalez, Bass; Phoenix Rivera, Drums; Joe Gonzalez, Percussion; and Milton Cardona, Percussion.

For more information at http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org