I am a descendant of Irish stock and have always loved Celtic music. We performed a concert of Afro-Latin-Celtic jazz with the amazing composer, saxophonist David Bixler. She Moves Through the Fair was one of the pieces David contributed, and it is achingly beautiful. Heather Martin Bixler (David’s wife) plays violin with astonishing musicality and sweetness. It is not a stretch that this arrangement of a traditional Irish air is on our record. We believe the music we call jazz belongs to the planet and that beauty knows no borders or genres.
I wrote Ruminaciones Sobre Cuba in Cuba whilst spending time with people whose friendship and love gives me hope - hope that the politics that separate us will cease, that oppression and manipulation will end, and that the spirit of freedom takes root individually in our hearts, so that we can exercise it individually and perhaps affect the outcome of political realities. Ruminaciones Sobre Cuba begins with a nod to the great Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés. It continues on a journey through Afro Cuban jazz, flowing from a danzón, continuing with a tribute to The Chacón Sax Quartet, and culminating in a descarga that celebrates the long lasting friendship between the people of Cuba and the United States. It may not be the reality now, but the day is coming, and I, for one, am ready.

There are many brilliant Latin American composers and each country seems to have its central figure. For Argentina that name is Ástor Piazzolla. His works have revolutionized music. Having lived at some point in New York, he had a respect for jazz. Michael Philip Mossman’s treatment of Piazzolla’s Tanguango is a perfect example of the kind of cross pollination that can occur when open minded musicians transcend genres, continents, and even decades. Bobby Porcelli turns in an alto sax solo that captures the fire and passion of tango with the cool and relaxed stance of a veteran jazzman.

Hermeto Pascoal is known for many things. He is a master melodicist who fashioned Bêbe in an outwardly flowing motion. Jovinos Santos Neto’s arrangement captures that forward motion and yet bubbles with rhythmic intensity. Paquito and Jason Marshall’s trade is beautiful, not so much because of the great juxtaposition of range and sound between the clarinet and baritone saxophone, but because they reveal what master musicians really do: they listen, and their interaction is truly inspired by one another.

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie was amongst the first musicians to realize that Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean were as much a part of the real roots of jazz, as New Orleans. He was directly responsible for reintroducing jazz to its Latin roots. A Night in Tunisia is our tribute to this visionary.

Finally, in a spirit of fun and playfulness, we make a lighthearted reference to the “settlement” which the newly emancipated African Americans were offered after the end of the Civil War. They were finally given what really mattered: freedom. It also makes fun of what stereotypes still exist in American culture in regard to how Latinos are viewed. 40 Acres and a Burro was written in four sections: first the burro which is easy to recognize, then the stereotype of the Mariachi minstrels, Latino white noise is the third, and finally the Mozambique with the lovely coro, “La injusticia se acabó,” which translated means “the injustice is over.”

Well, you and I know, the injustice is never over. There will always be those who think that they are or what they do is the real deal, defining themselves by what they’re not rather than by what they could be. The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra stands for the possibilities of what can happen when you discard the idea of high and low culture, when you cease to engage in elitist socio-economic pandering, when you invite the pueblo into your heart, into your song and into your day-to-day life. For us, that is where the adventure begins.

Arturo O’Farrill, November 2010
Recorded May 19-20, 2010 at Nola Recording Studios, NYC. Mixed and mastered at Nola Recording Studios, NYC. Executive Producers: R.D. Rice, Joachim “Jochen” Becker. Associate Producer: Kabir Sehgal. Producers: Eric Oberstein, Arturo O’Farrill. Assistant Producer: Alison Deane. Assistants: Adam O’Farrill, Zack O’Farrill, Kevin Theodore. Engineers: Jim Czak, Bill Moss. Band photo: Jerry Lacay. Photo/Package Design: Jack Frisch.