The Institute Of Jazz Studies At Rutgers University Acquires Arturo 'Chico' O'Farrill Music And Personal Archives

The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance is proud to announce The Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University is now the permanent home of the Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill Music and Personal Archives. This marks the acquisition of the first major Latin jazz archival collection in the Institute's 60-year history. The collection contains O'Farrill's original music manuscripts, photographs, and sound recordings documenting his prolific career as a composer, arranger, and bandleader. Famed compositions such as "Afro Cuban Jazz Suite," "Manteca Suite," "Carambola," and "Cuban Episode," among others, are included in this acquisition for the Institute. The Institute is thrilled to add O'Farrill's illustrious archives to its collection to celebrate Chico's monumental impact in jazz during his lifetime.

The O'Farrill collection will share a home with other great jazz archives, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Mary Lou Williams, Annie Ross, Benny Carter, and Abbey Lincoln. The Institute of Jazz Studies is the world's foremost jazz archives and research library. The Chico O'Farrill collection was donated to the IJS by The O'Farrill Family and Estate. Through this generous donation, Chico's legacy will be available for study and enjoyment for generations to come.

"We are honored to have been selected to be the new home for the Chico O'Farrill collection," says Adriana P. Cuervo, CA (Head of Archival Collections and Services, John Cotton Dana Library/IJS). "It is very important to us to be able to preserve jazz history, and Chico's collection is a major step for us in capturing a comprehensive picture of jazz and its diverse influences."

"On behalf of the O'Farrill family, we wish to thank The Institute of Jazz Studies for providing a home to Chico O'Farrill's musical legacy," comments multi-GRAMMY Award-winning composer/pianist/educator Arturo O'Farrill. "Chico would've been honored to know that his work is now available to scholars and students of jazz history. His contributions to jazz are remarkable for the vision and excellence he brought to this field. He was a pioneer and laid the foundation for Afro Latin jazz."

To commemorate the musical tradition and lineage of the O'Farrill family, Manhattan School of Music faculty member Arturo O'Farrill (Music Director & Conductor) leads the MSM Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra for a special evening of music on March 28 featuring compositions by Arturo, his father Chico, and his son Adam. Repertoire will include "Afro Cuban Jazz Suite" (Chico O'Farrill), "Afro Latin Jazz Suite" (Arturo O'Farrill), "The Aztec Suite" (Chico O'Farrill), "Jaicasosesbaim Noone" (arranged by Adam O'Farrill), "Three Revolutions" (Arturo O'Farrill), and "The Invisible Suite" (Arturo O'Farrill). For detailed information regarding the live performance at Neidorff-Karpati Hall @ Manhattan School of Music (130 Claremont Ave, 7:30pm), please visit: https://www.msmnyc.edu/performances

Arturo O'Farrill is available for interviews upon request.

About Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
GRAMMY Award winning pianist, composer and educator Arturo O'Farrill -- leader of the "first family of Afro-Cuban Jazz" (New York Times) -- was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. Son of the late, great composer Chico O'Farrill, Arturo was educated at Manhattan School of Music and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. He played piano in Carla Bley's Big Band from 1979 through 1983 and earned a reputation as a soloist in groups led by Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Turre, Freddy Cole, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Belafonte. In 2002, he established the GRAMMY winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra in order to bring the vital musical traditions of Afro Latin jazz to a wider general audience, and to greatly expand the contemporary Latin jazz big band repertoire through commissions to artists across a wide stylistic and geographic range.

Following his 2009 GRAMMY Award for "Best Latin Jazz Album" for the Orchestra's debut recording, Song for Chico (ZOHO), O'Farrill has received numerous GRAMMY wins for The Offense of the Drum ("Best Latin Jazz Album"), Cuba: The Conversation Continues ("The Afro Latin Jazz Suite," "Best Instrumental Composition"), and his album with Chucho Valdés, Familia: Tribute to Bebo & Chico, won a GRAMMY Award in the "Best Instrumental Composition" category for his composition, "Three Revolutions." Cuba: The Conversation Continues won a 2016 Latin GRAMMY for "Best Latin Jazz Album." In September 2018, O'Farrill released his latest album, Fandango at the Wall: A Soundtrack for the United States, Mexico, and Beyond, featuring the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Antonio Sanchez, Regina Carter, Akua Dixon, Mandy Gonzalez, Patricio Hidalgo, Rahim AlHaj, and Ramón Gutiérrez Hernández.

Arturo O'Farrill is on the faculty of The Manhattan School of Music and The New School. O'Farrill is a Steinway Artist.