Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance News‏ - Arturo O'Farrill -

Upcoming ALJA's Annual Education Benefit Aiming to Educate Since its inception, the Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance (ALJA) educational programs have aimed to introduce a new generation of youngsters to the world of jazz. Using Afro Latin Jazz as an entry point, ALJA teaches the principles of music and the significance of culture in a setting of mutual respect and understanding. Using performance ensembles as a tool to provide the basis for teamwork and self-confidence, ALJA’s programs fill the gap left by the lack of music education for our youth, representing a well-worth social investment. Please join us in our Annual Benefit Performance, featuring Arturo O’Farrill and New York City’s all-star youth orchestra The Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats. Proceeds from this Benefit will support ALJA’s music education programs serving New York City youth since 2007. This year’s event honors long-time Afro Latin Jazz Alliance Board MemberJames Wacht, who has been at the front of the Alliance’s education efforts since its very beginning.    5:30 p.m., Thursday May 7, 2015 Birdland Jazz Club 315 West 44th Street, b/t 9th Ave & 8th Ave Theater District, Hell's Kitchen, Midtown West New York NY For map directions, please click here Cuba: The Conversation Continued Música Nueva 7 Photography by David Katzenstein Last December, during the announcement of the historic change of status of relations between U.S. and Cuba, Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) was already at work in cultural diplomacy with today's premier Cuba-based composers and notable American artists, as they collectively picked up the legacy of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and Cuban percussionist “Chano” Pozo's ground-breaking work in the 1040’s.   Over a few days at the famous Abdalá recording studios in Havana, Cuba, O’Farrill worked with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and Cuban musicians Bobby Carcassés, Yasek Manzano, Alexis Bosch, tres player "Cotó," saxophonist Michel Herrera, Cuban-American drummer Dafnis Prieto, along with U.S. composers Michele Rosewoman and Zack O'Farrill, in creating an album that honors the legacy of Gillespie and “Chano” Pozo, following up on the magical conversation between those two luminaries of jazz.   Música Nueva 7 represents the Alliance's continued commitment to new music that expands the boundaries of Big Band Afro Latin Jazz, including the recently commissioned piece by New York's Apollo Theater, the "Afro Latin Jazz Suite," penned by O'Farrill.  The concerts include appearances by virtuoso Rudresh Mahanthappa, NYC-based composer Michele Rosewoman and three musicians from Cuba: Trumpeter Yasek Manzano, Cuban tres player Juan de la Cruz Antomarchi "Cotó" and pianist Alexis Bosch.   8:00p.m., Friday May 1 & Saturday May 2, 2015 Pre-performance discussion on Friday, May 1 at 7 pm. Symphony Space 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York, NY 10025-6990 For map directions, please click here Latin Jazz Ensemble in Chico, California As part of the 2015 Nor Cal Jazz Festival’s  “Americas Music” program, the award-winning Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble will be performing and presenting a lecture/demonstration, sharing with students and audience the fundamentals and history of Afro Latin jazz.   Lecture/Demonstration Friday, April 10 California State University Chico Campus, California   Performance 7:30pm, Saturday, April 11 Laxson Auditorium California State University 400 West 1st Street Chico, California   jazzcaribe@hotmail.com