Chico O’Farrill Essentials

Chico O’Farrill Essentials

Trumpeter and arranger Chico O’Farrill arrived in New York from Cuba in the late ‘40s, after Dizzy Gillespie had already unleashed a new Afro-Cuban jazz sound with conguero Chano Pozo. But in the following decade, O’Farrill helped popularise and expand that sound’s possibilities, leading his own protean dance band and working with the likes of Benny Goodman, Machito and Gillespie himself. His sharp pen brought out the best in the bands he worked for, colliding polyrhythms both seductive and propulsive with dazzling brass and reeds that blared and moaned. Later efforts, such as Art Farmer’s Aztec Suite, showcased a more nuanced side of his creativity.

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