Chico O'Farrill
Albums
For any and all Latin jazz collectors, casual or serious, this is a fabulous deal, for it gathers together no less than six exceedingly rare Chico [more]
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Appearances
This campy LP from the 1960s features the Count Basie Orchestra playing ten themes from four early James Bond movies, with arrangements by either Chico O'Farrill or George Williams. [more]
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As a leader, Charlie Parker recorded for Savoy and Dial during 1945-1948 and then for Verve exclusively (at least in the studios) during 1949-1954. This [more]
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Benny Goodman's volume in the Ken Burns Jazz series ranges from one of his first recording appearances, on a 1927 side by Ben Pollack, all the way to the late '50s. Of the 22 tracks, [more]
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This record is within the tradition...elegant....recommended. -*** 1/2, Downbeat, 1962
The Count and his orchestra tackle the music of the Fab Four, without any hint of condescension or lassitude. Indeed, the 11 songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and one [more]
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For any and all Latin jazz collectors, casual or serious, this is a fabulous deal, for it gathers together no less than six exceedingly rare Chico [more]
- List Price: $22.98
- Member Price: $21.21
![Afro [Special Packaging]](/cache/JHS/f1/130x130_on-sale_f160001mkr7.png)
Pairing Dizzy Gillespie with Cuban arranger/composer Chico O'Farrill produced a stunning session which originally made up the first half of a Norgran LP. O'Farrill [more]
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Clark Terry joined forces with Cuban bandleader Chico O'Farrill for these 1966 studio session, which consist almost exclusively of Latin tunes. Although there are a number of all-stars [more]
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Chapter Three: Viva Emiliano Zapata is the third of the four excellent "chapters" in saxophonist and composer Gato Barbieri's four-part "Latin America" series [more]
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The Latin Jazz Orchestra was founded by trumpeter Armando Rodriguez and drummer Victor Rendon in 1991. The Orchestra is smoothly piloted through [more]
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This budget-priced compilation issued via Verve's Jazz Club imprint spotlights the myriad pop, soul, bossa nova and psychedelia covers issued by jazz acts young and old as the [more]
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Biography
- Born Oct 28th 1921 in Havana, Cuba
- Died Jun 27th 2001 in New York, NY
Chico O'Farrill was right in the thick of the Afro-Cuban and Latin waves that hit jazz in the late '40s and '50s. His sophisticated writing for Latin big bands of the early '50s was often bold, brassy, and tense, yet he could also achieve a delicate, almost classical ambience in such pieces as "Angels' Flight" and work capably in larger forms (the groundbreaking "Afro-Cuban Jazz Suites").
O'Farrill took up the trumpet while in military school in Georgia, returning to Cuba as a full-fledged jazz fan after hearing the top American big bands. He studied composition in his native Havana and led his own band there before moving to New York City in 1948, where he soon made a name for himself writing music for Benny Goodman ("Undercurrent Blues"), Stan Kenton ("Cuban Episode"), and Machito ("Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite"). From 1950 to 1954, O'Farrill made six fiery 10" albums of Latin and American big band jazz for Clef and Norgran, all of which have been reissued on a Verve two-CD set, Cuban Blues. He also appeared with his own band at Birdland and toured the U.S. Toward the end of the decade, he moved to Mexico City, returning to New York in 1965 to work as arranger and music director of the TV series {#Festival of the Lively Arts} and to write arrangements for Count Basie. O'Farrill also put his classical training to use by writing pieces for symphony orchestra such as "Three Cuban Dances" and "Symphony No. 1." Though he continued to write pieces for Machito, Kenton, Gato Barbieri, and Dizzy Gillespie into the '70s, there were no recording sessions under O'Farrill's name from 1966 until 1995, when he came roaring back on the scene, his imagination and vigor miraculously intact, with the outstanding Pure Emotion CD (Milestone). He recorded two more strong albums for Milestone, the last being Carambola, released in October 2000. Eight months later, on June 27, 2001, Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill died while hospitalized in New York. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
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