Charleston Jazz Festival: Arturo O’Farrill Latin Jazz Quintet

Arturo O’Farrill is a Latin jazz pianist, composer and educator that was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. His professional career began with the Carla Bley Band, and he continued as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis and Harry Belafonte.

In December 2010, O'Farrill traveled with the original Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra to Cuba, returning his father’s musicians to his homeland. He continues to travel to Cuba regularly as an informal cultural ambassador, working with Cuban musicians, dancers and students, bringing local musicians from Cuba to the US and American musicians to Cuba.

O'Farrill has received commissions from Meet the Composer, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Philadelphia Music Project, The Apollo Theater, Symphony Space, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, the Young People's Chorus of New York, Columbia University and the New York State Council on the Arts.

The Charleston Jazz Festival is sponsored in part by MUSC.