April 28, 2023
Arturo O’Farrill returns to his first love—the piano—on his new Blue Note album Legacies out today. Renowned as a composer, arranger, and bandleader, here the 8-time GRAMMY- winner puts the emphasis back on his striking pianistic abilities with a 9-song set that juxtaposes stunning solo piano flights and dynamic trio performances with O’Farrill accompanied by his son, drummer Zack O’Farrill, and bassist Liany Mateo.
The repertoire on Legacies includes pieces by Herbie Hancock (“Dolphin Dance”), Bud Powell (“Un Poco Loco”), Thelonious Monk (“Well, You Needn’t”), Carla Bley (“Utviklingssang”), his father Chico O’Farrill (“Pure Emotion”), and Puerto Rican composer Pedro Flores (“Obsession”). The album follows O’Farrill’s 2021 Blue Note debut …dreaming in lions…, an album that presented two multi-movement suites composed by O’Farrill and performed by the 10-piece assemblage The Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble.
“How did a classically trained musician with an Irish/Mexican/Cuban/German heritage and a propensity toward the avant-garde became the poster boy for Afro Latin Jazz? Obviously, by falling in love with Jazz piano,” says O’Farrill. “I have always been a jazz pianist first, and all that other stuff afterwards. When Don Was asked me to record this side of me I was very grateful for the chance to return to my roots as a musician.”
The track listing for Legacies is as follows:
- Dolphin Dance (Herbie Hancock)
- Well, You Needn’t (Thelonious Monk)
- Blue State Blues (Arturo O’Farrill)
- Pure Emotion (Arturo “Chico” O’Farrill)
- Obsession (Pedro Flores)
- Darn That Dream (Jimmy Van Heusen, Edgar DeLange)
- Utviklingssang (Carla Bley)
- Doxy (Sonny Rollins)
- Un Poco Loco (Bud Powell)
