Afro Latin Jazz Alliance Announces the
National Release of
GRAMMY-Winning Arturo
O'Farrill and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra’s Latest Album
Four
Questions
(ZOHO,
Release Date: April 10, 2020)
Featuring Dr.
Cornel West
On The Title
Composition, “Four Questions”
Harlem, NY – Friday, April 3, 2020 – GRAMMY® Award-winning
pianist/composer Arturo O'Farrill
and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
release their latest recording, Four Questions (ZOHO Music),
featuring special guest Dr. Cornel West
on the title composition “Four Questions” on Friday, April 10, 2020. Four Questions marks O’Farrill’s first
album in his famed recording catalog to exclusively include all originally
written compositions. Weaving together empowering messages for the times, Four Questions portrays the pioneering
pianist as outspoken as ever on the obligation of artists to speak truth to the
great injustices occurring across the globe.
Premiered live-in-concert at The
Apollo Theater on May 21, 2016, “Four Questions” will now be available for
worldwide audiences to hear on Four
Questions with the electrifying Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra joined by Dr.
Cornel West as a guest soloist, conductor, and percussionist. O’Farrill’s
commissioned piece for the Apollo Theater as part of his MacDowell residency took
the shape of Dr. Cornel West’s speech at Town Hall (Seattle, WA: October 9,
2014) based on his book, Black Prophetic Fire. Four questions
posed by the great African American civil rights activist and
author W. E. B. Du Bois in his 1903
book, The Souls of Black Folk, are expounded upon by West while
O’Farrill and his 18-piece orchestra usher in a jolt of inspiring fury.
The four essential themes from W.E.B. Du Bois’ seminal
publication, include: What does integrity
do in the face of adversity / oppression? What does honesty do in the face of
lies / deception? What does decency do in the face of insult? How does virtue
meet brute force?
“‘Four Questions’ is about bringing attention through Dr. West's
brilliance and vision, coupled with the subversive power of the Afro Latin Big
Band, to the influence of revolutionary thought that demands we take stock of
where we are as a country and demand better,” says Arturo O’Farrill, pianist/composer and Artistic Director of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance. “We must pay
tribute to the jazz greats like Coltrane, Holiday, Mingus, The Art Ensemble of
Chicago, and carry on their legacy of bringing attention to the real issues of
modern society through jazz music.”
A modern-day prophet, Dr. Cornel West joins the riveting Afro
Latin Jazz Orchestra to hold our feet to the fire and demand that we deal with
the social and political horrors of our day. Standing strong for what you
believe in often threatens others in their complacency. To witness Dr. Cornel
West in action is an awe-inspiring experience. He is widely renowned as a
speaker of substantive truth within the intelligentsia community.
O’Farrill notes, “Watching Dr. West speak is one of the sublime
musical moments of my life. His oratory has the weight of a John Coltrane solo.
His rhythmic delivery has the tumbao of Mongo Santamaría. The humor with which
he injects his very serious messages floats like Charlie Parker in flight and,
oh, most sacred of all, when he gets deliberate, each word has the authenticity
and Afrocentricity of Thelonious Monk’s right hand.”
More than ever the brilliance of Du Bois’ introspections, West’s
interpretations and the pure jazz fire with which they are delivered are a
salve for those who are hurt by the daily assault of those who use ideology to
promote hatred and violence. Jazz fans and music lovers alike are in for a
special treat upon hitting play on their audio devices when “Four Questions” is
in the queue.
Four Questions
further unfolds with compositions such as “Baby Jack,” a piece commissioned by
O’Farrill’s dear friend, Mary McCormick. “Baby Jack” accesses emotions
fearlessly, just as a baby oscillates between laughter radiating with the
brilliance of pure joy to howling with pain. “The Jazz Twins” is dedicated to
Arnold and Donald Stanley from Los Angeles; two close knit staples of the jazz
community. The Stanley’s have become close acquaintances of O’Farrill, who have
traveled with him to Cuba. It’s the type of brotherhood that can weather any
storm, and “The Jazz Twins” captures such a spirit.
As part of O’Farrill’s MacDowell residency at the Apollo Theater,
he also composed “Clump/Unclump.” The piece encapsulates the relentless law of
gathering and scattering, the coming together and the falling asunder. While
writing the piece, O’Farrill faced his oldest child leaving the parental home
and his only remaining parent becoming terminally ill. “Clump/Unclump” strikes
a course where a rock solid life is pulled apart with centrifugal force. To O’Farrill,
it served as a micro-lesson constantly revealed on a macro scale. An anthem for
the period in which we live, the overwhelming hatred and mediocrity in our
national conversation too shall pass.
“A Still, Small, Voice” is in response to the great financial
crisis of 2008 when select financial institutions took part in unscrupulous
practices that caused serious harm to middle class Americans and people around
the world. It reflects a common thread between all religions and philosophies,
and borrows words from Hindu, Christian, and Shinto texts. “A Still, Small,
Voice” speaks to an inner reminder of the eternal truth that if one suffers, we
all suffer. The composition features an inimitable choir assembled by choral
conductor Jana Ballard. In addition
to the title movement, “A Still, Small, Voice” contains three additional
movements entitled, “Elijah – 1 Kings 19:13,” “Amidst The Fire and Whirlwind,”
and "Cacophonus.”
“Four Questions is the
sixth production on which Arturo and I collaborated, over almost a decade,” says
Kabir Sehgal (Executive Producer, Four Questions). “That this project
is grounded in the philosophy of one great American writer, W.E.B. Du Bois,
it’s fitting to cite another. The influential African American jazz critic and
novelist Albert Murray believed that cultural diversity was a hallmark to
America’s strength, and I know that Arturo believes this, too. Moreover, like
Murray, Arturo believes that the powers that be should be called out for
intolerance and bigotry. It’s been an honor to produce this project with Doug
Davis and for Arturo, who I consider a dear mentor and friend. When he embarks
upon a project, he bares his heart and soul. The world is a better place for
Arturo sharing his profound artistry with all of us.”
Arturo O’Farrill
Four Questions
Track Listing:
1.
Baby Jack
2.
Jazz Twins
3.
Four Questions – Featuring Dr. Cornel West
4.
Clump, Unclump
5.
Elijah - 1 Kings 19:13
6.
Amidst The Fire and Whirlwind
7.
Cacophonous
8. A Still, Small Voice
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. In 2019,
O’Farrill was appointed a Professor at The Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA,
in the Global Jazz Studies department. O’Farrill is a
Steinway Artist.
Afro Latin Jazz Alliance
The non-profit Afro Latin Jazz Alliance (ALJA) was established by
Arturo O'Farrill in 2007 to promote Afro Latin Jazz through a comprehensive
array of performance and education programs. ALJA produces the Afro Latin Jazz
Orchestra's annual performance season in New York, and maintains a weekly
engagement for the Orchestra at the famed jazz club Birdland. The Alliance also
maintains a world-class collection of Latin jazz musical scores and recordings.
ALJA's education programs include the Afro Latin Jazz Academy of Music (ALJAM),
an in-school residency program serving public schools citywide with
instrumental and ensemble instruction, the pre-professional youth orchestra;
the Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats, which prepares the next generation of musicians,
and the Global Rhythms in Our Tribe (G.R.I.O.T.); a community music program
that engages underserved youth in anti-violence activities. The Afro Latin Jazz
Alliance maintains an administrative office inside the historic Minisink
Townhouse in Central Harlem. For more information on the Afro Latin Jazz
Alliance, please visit afrolatinjazz.org.
