Chico O'Farrill

Arturo " Chico" O'Farrill ( born October 28, 1921 in Havana, Cuba, † 27 June 2001 in New York City, New York ) was an American musician, arranger and composer of Cuban origin.

Life and work

Chico O'Farrill came as a youth to education at the Riverside Military Academy in Florida, where he incidentally studied trumpet and piano. During law school, he worked with various Cuban groups, for which he began arrange. In 1948, he moved to New York where he studied with Hall Overton and Bernd Wagenaar. He worked as an arranger for Benny Goodman, for Machito (1950, Afro - Cuban Jazz Suite by Charlie Parker), for Stan Kenton, Dizzy Gillespie (1954, Manteca Suite) and Art Farmer. Since 1951, he led his own bands occasionally, moved back to Havana in 1955, and from there in 1959 to Mexico City, where he wrote concert and film music. From 1965 he was back in New York and wrote for Count Basie, Cal Tjader, Clark Terry, Candido, Frank Wess, Gato Barbieri, Mario Bauza and for their own record productions. He also wrote music for television usage and advertising. For Wynton Marsalis, he wrote a trumpet concerto. With his Afro - Cuban Jazz Big Band, he produced three albums, including the Grammy -nominated Pure Emotion ( 1996).

Discography (selection)

  • Cuban Blues - The Chico O'Farrill Sessions, 1950-54 ( Verve Music Group, 1996)
  • Heart Of A Legend ( Milestone Records, 1998-99)
  • Carambola ( Milestone, 2000)

Filmography (selection)

Soundtrack

Composer

Swell

  • Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD. Penguin, 6th edition, London, 2002. ISBN 0-14-017949-6
  • Martin Kunzler: jazz lexicon. Rowohlt, Vol 2, Reinbek 2002. ISBN 3-499-16513-9
June 27 Film score Mario Bauzá Grammy Award Richard Cook (journalist) Brian Morton (Scottish writer) Name Authority File
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