The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance kicks off the 12th Anniversary season of GRAMMY Award-winners Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) with a special program, Jazz Across the Americas: Colombia & Peru, featuring today's leading artists and composers from these two countries now living in the United States. Embarking on the Orchestra's seventh season at Symphony Space and performing as part of the Composers Now Festival, ALJO premieres several newly commissioned works as well as selections from each guest artists' repertoire on February 14 & 15, 2014. Pianist/composer Pablo Mayor and accordionist/composer Gregorio Uribe represent Colombia, and trumpeter/composer Gabriel Alegria, saxophonist/composer Laura Andrea Leguía and percussionist/composer Ivonne Paredes represent Peru; additional musicians include Yuri Juarez (Criolla guitar), Freddy "Huevito" Lobton (Cajon, Zapateo dancing), and percussionists Nestor Gómez and Marcelo Woloski.
"Jazz Across The Americas represents our ongoing commitment to infusing the sounds of all the Americas into our palette," says Arturo O'Farrill. "The rhythms of Colombia and Peru, the song forms and styles all flow effortlessly into the future of this ever evolving love affair we call jazz. An art form that is only truly 'American' when we accept the notion that we are all part of a cultural Kente cloth that stretches from Africa, touches Lima, Cali, New Orleans and all people of adventurous souls and open minds."
For over five centuries, dissimilar cultures from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and other regions of the world have melded with the indigenous traditions of South America. The result, particularly in terms of music, is the presence of a wealth of diverse styles - many of them distinct hybrids that exist nowhere else. Jazz Across the Americas: Colombia & Peru presents the premier compositional innovators of this new music:
Pablo Mayor:
Composer/arranger/pianist Pablo Mayor combines his vast knowledge of Colombian folklore with an extensive expertise of jazz harmonies and arranging with his ensemble, the Folklore Urbano Orchestra, who's produced three albums to date. Since 2003, Mayor has been on a mission promoting Colombian music and culture with his annual event "Encuentro NYC Colombian Music Festival," which unites renowned Colombian musicians (including Totó la Momposina, Plectro Trio, Hector Martignon, Samuel Torres, Edmar Castañeda). As a cultural advocate, Mayor's spoken at the Colombian Embassy on Capital Hill (during the 2008 celebration featuring Petrona Martinez), and is an active educator leading an annual Colombian music residency at PS/IS 217 on Roosevelt Island through a partnership grant with Turtle Bay Music School. He also serves as Director of Colombian Music and Jazz at the Harbor Conservatory. Mayor's acclaimed big band compositions have been recorded by the GRAMMY Award-winning One O'Clock Lab band and performed on many occasions by the ALJO.
Gregorio Uribe:
Following his upbringing in Bogotá, Colombia and exploring diverse Latin music genres while performing across South America, Gregorio Uribe came to the US to study at Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA). The accordionist became highly influenced by jazz arranging, and formed his singular project, The Gregorio Uribe Band: a 16-piece ensemble blending Afro-Colombian rhythms with powerful big band arrangements and funk. Uribe's innovative music has led him to share the stage with such renowned artists as GRAMMY Award-winners Rubén Blades and Carlos Vives.
Gabriel Alegría:
The extremes of Afro-Peruvian folklore from the coast and the spirit of jazz music coexist in a balance only Peruvian trumpeter/composer Gabriel Alegria's aesthetic could make possible. New York Times says, "on his sharp album, Nuevo Mundo, trumpeter Gabriel Alegría teases out affinities between modern jazz and the African-influenced coastal music of his native Peru." Downbeat touts, "Peruvian trumpeter Gabriel Alegria champions Afro-Peruvian music." By incorporating and exploring the common African roots found in jazz and black music of coastal Peru, Alegria has honed a sound where a cross-cultural exchange between the Americas is always present, carefully defining Afro-Peruvian jazz music as the newest voice to come from Latin America.
Laura Andrea Leguía:
Saxophonist/composer Laura Andrea Leguía, an integral member of Gabriel Alegria's Afro-Peruvian Sextet, composes original music with the coast of Peru and New York City close in mind. On her latest recording, Saxofón Criollo, Leguía brings to life the music of the urban "peñas" in Lima, Perú as well as her experiences as a NYC-based saxophonist. Recorded at Dolan Studio (NYC), Saxofón Criollo features Yuri Juárez (guitar), Antonio Vilchez (cajón) and Pablo Menares (bass), and special guests including the Peruvian National Symphony's Marco Lucioni (cello), Roland Díaz from La Peña don Porfirio (guitar), Aldo Borjas "pollo negro" on castagnets, and legendary criollo master musician José "Pepe" Villalobos Cavero (percussion).
Ivonne Paredes:
At the age of 17, composer/percussionist Ivonne Paredes moved from her home in Lima, Peru in search of a better education. Once residing in the US, she studied with renowned percussionist Mike Davis, and went onto compose under Dr. Daniel Crozier at Rollins College (Winter Park, FL). Currently a graduate student at Brooklyn College, Ivonne is studying under the instruction of Douglas Cohen and Tania Leon. Ivonne has recently returned to her Peruvian roots as a composer, applying her Peruvian heritage to any composition, making it diverse, unique and exotic. She has written over fifteen works in a period of five years, from piano solo works to orchestra pieces.
All of the featured artists appearing at Jazz Across the Americas: Colombia & Peru have both a clear connection and education in jazz arranging and composing styles, and dedication to their indigenous roots. These are musicians who in embracing jazz do not abandon their identities or culture. They are cognizant of the American ideals and aesthetic in jazz and recognize those qualities in their own forms, seeking to synthesize a hybrid that is neither American nor Peruvian or Colombian but really Pan American; not jazz, not Latin but a music of the future.
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, Brooklyn College Conservatory 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.
A celebrated composer with a frequent new ground-breaking and forward-looking perspective, Mr. O'Farrill has received commissions from Meet the Composer, the Big Apple Circus, the Philadelphia Music Project, Symphony Space, and the Bronx Museum of the Arts. He has also composed music for films, including Hollywoodland and Salud. His debut album with the Orchestra, Una Noche Inolvidable, earned a GRAMMY Award nomination in 2006 and the Orchestra's second album, Song for Chico, (ZOHO) earned a GRAMMY Award for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2009. In February 2011, Mr. O'Farrill and the ALJO released their third GRAMMY nominated album, 40 Acres and a Burro (ZOHO). In 2011, O'Farrill released his first solo album, The Noguchi Sessions, (ZOHO). On May 6, 2014, O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra will release their latest album, The Offense of the Drum, on Motéma Music.
Arturo O'Farrill is a Steinway Artist, and artist-in-residence at the Harlem School of the Arts. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the New York Chapter of NARAS.
About the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Led by pianist, composer, and director Arturo O'Farrill, the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO) comprises 18 eminent soloists. Performing classic works in the Afro Latin Jazz tradition, the Orchestra helps to preserve this vital musical genre, and commissioning new works provides the next generation of composers, arrangers and instrumentalists with an opportunity to further explore and define Afro Latin Jazz. Established in 2002, the ALJO has toured internationally, bringing the rhythms and power of Latin jazz to places as far away as China. For the past seven years, ALJO has been delighted to perform regularly at Symphony Space. The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra are artists-in-residence at the Harlem School of the Arts. Visit us on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/AfroLatinJazzNY
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 educational programs. ALJA self produces the Orchestra's annual performance season at Symphony Space (2007 - 2014), 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 initiatives include the Afro Latin Jazz Academy of Music in-school residency program serving public schools citywide with instrumental and ensemble instruction, and the pre-professional youth orchestra, the Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats, which prepares the next generation of musicians. The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance is a partner project of the Fund for the City of New York and maintains an administrative office at the Harlem School of the Arts -- The Herb Alpert Center where O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra are currently artists-in-residence. For more information on the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, please visit www.afrolatinjazz.org.
Composers Now Festival
The Composers Now Festival celebrates living composers, the diversity of their voices and the significance of their musical contributions to our society. During the month of February, Composers Now presents dozens of concerts in venues throughout New York City. Experience the sounds and get to know the creators behind the music. From jazz to indie, from classical to electronic and beyond, join us on a sonic journey through the landscape of the arts of our time. Composers Now is a project partner of The Fund for the City of New York.
The work of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance is made possible with generous support from:
Foundations: Arnhold Foundation, Leonard Bernstein Family Foundation, BMI Foundation, The Brenner Family Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., John and Joan D'Addario Foundation, D'Addario Music Foundation, Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Fund for the City of New York, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, New York Community Trust/Lila Acheson Wallace Fund for the Arts, and National Association of Latino Arts & Culture; Corporations: Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Con Edison, Emerging Global Shares, Palladium Equity Partners, WABC-TV; Public: National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs-Cultural Development Fund, New York State Council on the Arts - Music & Arts Education Program, New York City Department of Youth and Cultural Development, City Council Members Gale Brewer and Melissa Mark-Viverito, and other generous individual donors.
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