ARTURO O’FARRILL

Born in Mexico and raised in New York, Arturo O’Farrill is a prolific pianist, composer, and passionate promoter of Latin music and its cultural heritage. The son of Latin jazz musician, arranger and bandleader Chico O’Farrill, and pianist, composer, and director for the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

He is best known for his contributions to contemporary Latin jazz, more specifically Afro-Cuban jazz, having received Grammy Awards and nominations, though he has trained in other forms such as free jazz and experimented briefly with hip hop.

grew up in New York City. Arturo’s professional career began with the Carla Bley Band and continued as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte.

In 2007, he founded the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the performance, education, and preservation of Afro Latin music.

Arturo has performed with orchestras and bands including his own Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O’Farrill Sextet, as well as other Orchestras and intimate ensembles in the US, Europe, Russia, Australia, and South America.

Tickets: $40.00 General Admission | Dinner & Show $85.00

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DE’SEAN JONES & URBAN ART ORCHESTRA

Prepare for a once in a lifetime explosive music collaboration between the mind bending awe inspiring drumming of Blaque Dynamite accompanied by the colorful n lush textures of Urban Art Orchestra, brought to you by Detroit’s very own Legendary Powerhouse Saxophonist and 3x Grammy nominated composer De’Sean Jones.

Special Guest: Blaque Dynamite

Tickets: $20.00, $30.00, $40.00, $50.00 | Price includes fees

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GEOF BRADFIELD

Saxophonist and composer Geof Bradfield blends modern jazz, African rhythms, and the roots music of his native South into a style that is “explicitly adventurous and forward-looking” (AllAboutJazz.com). Born in Houston and based in Chicago, Bradfield has performed throughout North America, Europe, Russia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, sharing the stage and recording studio with artists such as Randy Weston, Dana Hall, Clark Sommers, Brian Blade, Ben Goldberg, Anna Webber, Orrin Evans, Jeff Parker, Matt Ulery, and Ryan Cohan.

His work is featured on 50+ CDs including ten albums as a leader that have garnered critical accolades from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and NPR. He has received grants and awards from Chamber Music America, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, DCASE, Illinois Arts Council, and the Mellon Foundation. The Downbeat Critics Poll has named him a Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist and Arranger multiple years.

Cover: $20.00

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Roger Wolfe Kahn was born on October 19, 1907 in Morristown, New Jersey, into a wealthy German Jewish banking family. He began studying the violin aged six and is said to have learned to play eighteen musical instruments before starting to lead his own orchestra in 1923, at the age of only 16. His interest in music led the ten year old to buy a ukulele with instructions on how to play. The ukulele turned his mind toward violins, pianos, banjos and jazz orchestras.

By sixteen he rejected college, formed his own booking agency and organized a paying band. He installed it at the Knickerbocker Grill in New York. Self-taught, he could play every instrument in the outfit, and his favorite instruments were the piano and saxophone. By the time he reached nineteen, he had eleven orchestras on his books that played in resorts and hotels from Newport, Rhode Island to Florida. His success enabled him to pursue his passion for composing music and aviation.

Kahn appeared in a short film, hired many famous jazz musicians and singers of the day to play and sing in his band, especially during recording sessions. They were Tommy Dorsey, Morton Downey, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Artie Shaw, Jack Teagarden, Red Nichols, Libby Holman, Gertrude Niesen, Franklyn Baur, Dick Robertson, Elmer Feldkamp and Gene Krupa.

Early on in his career he made several recordings under the name Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Hotel Biltmore Orchestra. He and his Orchestra recorded four takes of the song Rhythm Of The Day for Victor Records and for some reason Victor chose not to release any of them. Undeterred, he wrote the song Following You Around, and  arranged the score of his stage musical Rhapsurdity and Hearts and Flowers.

During his career Roger made recordings for Victor, Brunswick and Colubia records, fronted several fashionable New York night clubs and owned several clubs, one beingLe Perroquet de Paris, opened in New York in November 1926 with a five-dollar cover charge. In 1938, the Kahn Orchestra reformed to perform a special one-off concert, in what could have been the Kahn Orchestra’s last concert.

Roger Wolfe Kahn, who was a composer, bandleader and an aviator, died of a heart attack in New York City on July 12, 1962.

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ETIENNE CHARLES

 San Juan Hill: A New York Story 

Created by composer and trumpeter Etienne Charles, it is an immersive multimedia creation that celebrates a vital chapter of New York’s past. Through music, visuals, and first-person accounts, this powerful work shines a light on the historic communities of the area where Lincoln Center stands today. Blending diverse musical styles—including ragtime, jazz, stride piano, swing, blues, mambo, paseo, Antillean waltz, calypso, funk, disco, and Hip-Hop—with historical film and compelling narratives, the work showcases the myriad cultures that migrants brought to New York from the American South and the Caribbean.

He is joined by the University of Miami’s Frost Symphony Orchestra, where Charles teaches and serves as the Director of the Frost Studio Jazz Band, and special guests, this piece is a testament to the enduring spirit and forgotten stories of a community that helped shape the city’s cultural landscape.

The Program:

Lenape | Where Two or More are Gathered | Zora & Percy | Swing Culture | The Destroyer | Riot 1905 | Negro Enchantress — The Story of Hannah Elias | Charleston at the Jungles | Urban Removal — 1949–1959 | House Rent Party

Creole Soul:
Etienne Charles ~ Trumpet
Godwin Louis ~ Alto, Soprano Saxophones
Tori Trinity Flute
Christian Sands ~ Piano
Alex Wintz ~ Guitar
Lino Piquero Bueno ~ Bass
Brenten Handfield ~ Drums

Feature: 
University of Miami Frost Symphony Orchestra
Maestro Gerard Schwarz ~ Director

Special Guests:
DJ Logic ~ Turntables
Eljon Wardally, Carl Hancock Rux ~ Spoken Word

Tickets: Currently No Availability

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