(afro cuban jazz, modern big band) [WEB] Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra - Cuba: The Conversation - 2015, FLAC (tracks), lossless

-----------------------
DON'T MODIFY THIS FILE
-----------------------
PERFORMER: auCDtect Task Manager, ver. 1.6.0 RC1 build 1.6.0.1
Copyright (c) 2008-2010 y-soft. All rights reserved
http://y-soft.org
ANALYZER: auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright (c) 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.
FILE: 01 Bmi - The Triumphant Journey.flac
  Size: 39131853 Hash: 183AAAC17C2E922A21EBAFF05B183F2C Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: BA6CD44CFBCB6DA97291C87CAB7537CE73B63513
FILE: 02 Bmi - The Afro Latin Jazz Suite. Movement I Mother Africa (Feat. Rudresh Mahanthappa).flac
  Size: 54317106 Hash: 49378073503654A874856308B0963CD9 Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 99%
  Signature: 93BE4BB0AC5DCD346116E901CF8C1457897570F3
FILE: 03 Bmi - The Afro Latin Jazz Suite. Movment ll All of the Americas (Feat. Rudresh Mahanthappa).flac
  Size: 57521433 Hash: 0EA1BEDEBEBE9704ED5CE8FE9A04A55D Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: 2412D14685D4A170BABD38C1031F5429BC2F9A3B
FILE: 04 Bmi - The Afro Latin Jazz Suite. Movement lll Adagio (Feat. Rudresh Mahanthappa).flac
  Size: 19500246 Hash: AB625687FA17A21F7FB31CCFA8C55B85 Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: BAA81165905424DDC718BE2BDC8EBC80F3F391BC
FILE: 05 Bmi - The Afro Latin Jazz Suite. Movement IV What Now (Feat. Rudresh Mahanthappa).flac
  Size: 41328207 Hash: EF9847A6696F27727B890543CF3D6163 Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: 750826C9B3A1AC6E3A671AA838E3BB66710916C3
FILE: 06 Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra - Guajira Simple (Feat. Alexis Bosch).flac
  Size: 47286786 Hash: BB892879911A44FF91477F9F8B915A09 Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: 6F75A0F55F0301B10E1F18B4063E5C2950C156C4
FILE: 07 Yasek Manzano - Alabanza (Feat. Michele Rosewoman. Yasek Manzano & Antonio Martinez Campos).flac
  Size: 8243109 Hash: 50863CB8A6A9CCB412A66C9AD71F3974 Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: 6C89D22A33B466EACA27A0C063AEE0F58D2535E6
FILE: 08 Bobby Carcasses - Blues Guaguanco (Feat. Bobby Carcasses, Alexis Bosch & Jesus Ricardo Anduz).flac
  Size: 40517874 Hash: A1A0097D8EFD498B2AC31296E46C8376 Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: 04C5F584B14D7D399C56D2A73B3306AAF15C73B7
FILE: 09 Bmi - Vaca Frita (Feat. DJ Logic. Zack O'farrill & Adam O'farrill).flac
  Size: 25781689 Hash: D4B462DCCA8B0A25C55E76F6A49DAFCE Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: D0C22789D9425245E7496F7BFC655BE4429756B5
FILE: 10 Michel Herrera - Just One Moment (Feat. Michel Herrera & Adam O'farrill).flac
  Size: 83063527 Hash: F94815F721FEAD5A33F1FDC790FDECB9 Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: 9CDCE6F8F0536A7FAF6129F3DD3350A04A4297D9
FILE: 11 Coto - El Bombon (Feat. Coto).flac
  Size: 50062729 Hash: 47E0471A7C6E900B7F1903C3AFBEE37D Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: 914F1000049A56076283B3337B515F299071A615
FILE: 12 Bmi - Second Line Soca (Brudda Singh) (Feat. Renee Manning).flac
  Size: 53908675 Hash: 456DA764AE1ED3B8F5BBEA0712ECB284 Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: 643DC2703DED7994960E075705DB874265E6F0A9
FILE: 13 Bmi - There's a Statue of Jose Marti in Central Park (Feat. Rudresh Mahanthappa).flac
  Size: 36331188 Hash: 1DF26468415C7726C867E5AF90A4FFE2 Accuracy: -m0
  Conclusion: CDDA 100%
  Signature: 9CA071F1E13562BBCA192B1896DD0C471B67E00C

A veteran figure of the Afro-Cuban jazz movement, Arturo O'Farrill was born in Cuba and grew up in New York City. The son of big-band leader Chico O'Farrill, Arturo was educated at the Manhattan School of Music and the Brooklyn College Conservatory. From 1979-1983, he played piano with the Carla Bley Big Band. O'Farrill then went on to develop his skills as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists, including Wynton Marsalis, Dizzy Gillespie, Steve Turre, Papo Vazquez, the Fort Apache Band, Lester Bowie, and Harry Belafonte. In 1995, O'Farrill agreed to direct Chico O'Farrill's Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra in residence at New York City's Birdland nightclub; the band also performed throughout the world. As a bandleader in his own right, O'Farrill recorded material for Milestone Records, 32 Jazz, and M & I. Those recordings (Blood Lines, A Night in Tunisia, and Cumana) provided listeners with an overview of the musical environment in which O'Farrill was raised. He also made appearances on numerous records, including Habanera with Alberto Shiroma and the soundtrack to the critically acclaimed movie Calle 54. Arturo was a special guest soloist at three landmark Jazz at Lincoln Center concerts -- Afro-Cuban Jazz: Chico O'Farrill's Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, November 1995, Con Alma: The Latin Tinge in Big Band Jazz, September 1998, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Gala: The Spirit of Tito Puente, November 2001. In March 2002, he was also the featured artist in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jazz in the Schools Tour, when he led a Latin jazz quintet for 24 educational performances that reached over 5,000 people throughout the N.Y.C. metropolitan schools. He again participated in this educational tour in 2002 and continued to direct the orchestra that preserved much of his father's music. The year 2008 saw him partnering with vocalist Claudia Acuña for In These Shoes, a stylish offering of jazz and Latin music. Two years later he released The Auction Project, featuring David Bixler, an acoustic post-bop date with a Celtic influence. In February 2011, he followed with 40 Acres and a Burro, an outing for his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. A solo piano date titled The Noguchi Sessions appeared later in 2011; for that album, O'Farrill was recorded alone after-hours at the Noguchi Museum on Long Island. As a producer, he helmed the sessions for Adam Kromelow's Youngblood album and participated in a quartet known as the Puppeteers with Jaime Affoumado, Bill Ware, and Alex Blake. Their self-titled offering was released in March of 2014. O'Farrill followed it in May with the release of his next Afro-Latin Orchestra date, The Offense of the Drum. The album won a 2015 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. In December of 2014, O’Farrill and his band were in Cuba performing, and planning to record. The next evening, Barack Obama announced the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the nation after more than 50 years of silence. The album O’Farrill had planned was in synchonity with the announcement: It extended the musical and cultural conversation begun by Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo from the 1940s. It featured four premier Cuban and six American composers/arrangers. The big band was expanded to accommodate 24 players. Its recording sessions included 21 producers, five vidoegraphers and two videographers from both countries. The double length document, entitled Cuba: The Conversation Continues, was released by Motema in the summer of 2015.
-- Paula Edelstein --

Recorded in Havana 48 hours after President Obama announced his plan to normalize relations between the U.S. and Cuba, Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's "Cuba: The Conversation Continues" is a powerful statement, a juxtaposition of music and current events. A follow up to the Grammy-winning "The Offense of the Drum," the new album builds upon the conversation started by Dizzy Gillespie and Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo - a musical dialogue that bridged the gap between jazz and Afro-Cuban music. O'Farrill brings top composers from both the U.S. and Cuba to create a dazzling musical tapestry, successfully fulfilling Dizzy s dream of creating 'universal music' .
“There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come,” Victor Hugo once wrote. The United States avoided the idea of engagement with Cuba since 1961. But on December 17, 2014, President Barack Obama stunned the world with the announcement that the U.S. would seek to normalize relations with Cuba. The time had come. The conversation had continued. The idea of engagement had prevailed.

At the time of the announcement, Arturo O’Farrill and I were in Havana making this very album. That evening, as Cubans cried, hugged, and flashed peace signs, we gathered in a home on Calle Campanario. “This day is dedicated to the brotherhood of Cuba and the United States!” said our host, Cuban tresero Juan de la Cruz Antomachi, better known as Cotó. “Something big is happening.” Cotó was speaking to a room of musicians and “producers” – supporters who funded the album and traveled to Cuba with the orchestra for a once-in-a-lifetime, bucket-list experience.

It was a special day. And an unforgettable night – more than a year in the making.

Arturo’s Cuban roots are deep; he has been a music traveler to Cuba for years. After he returned from playing the Havana International Jazz Plaza Festival in December 2013, I proposed to him that we record the next ALJO album there. I didn’t have to convince him. He even had a working title: The Conversation Continued.

“Dizzy and Chano began a conversation in 1947,” Arturo says, referring to conguero Chano Pozo’s year-plus of playing with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie’s group, a cultural conversation that brought North American jazz (at the moment of bebop’s emergence) together with the riches of Afro Cuban music (during a golden era). It changed the music of both countries. “Their conversation,” he continued, “was interrupted by separation, stupidity, and death,” referring to Chano’s untimely demise by gunfire on December 3, 1948.
Arturo asked a prophetic question, “What would the music have sounded like if they (and we) kept talking with each other?” Even Dizzy spoke of a time when there would be neither “jazz” nor “Afro Cuban” but “universal music” (Cuban and American music originates from Africa, after all). Reflecting on our conversation, I realized that Arturo was speaking about the central idea of our trip, the everlasting message of this album: engagement.

So we got to work. Arturo identified his cast of composers. In the U.S.: Arturo O’Farrill, Zack O’Farrill, Earl McIntyre, Dafnis Prieto, and Michele Rosewoman. In Cuba: Alexis Bosch, Bobby Carcassés, Cotó, and Michel Herrera.

Meanwhile, we hustled up the funding and enlisted a small army of supporters. Some 58 of us – 24 musicians, 21 producers, six staff, five videographers, and two photographers traveled to Cuba – permitted by the U.S. Treasury Department from December 15 to 22, 2014. (All told, more than 75 folks, including lawyers, more staff, and more producers helped to make this album). We hadn’t been on the ground 48 hours when President Obama made his historic announcement.

Recorded at Abdala Studios in Havana, Cuba: The Conversation Continues offers a compelling, forward-looking aesthetic – one based on dialogue and engagement. It turns out that musical borders are man-made, just like geographic and political ones. Arturo fulfills Dizzy’s prophecy of creating a universal music, breaking down the cultural constructs of “jazz” and “Latin.” With the news about political normalization, we grasped the potential significance of this album – as a touchstone of diplomatic engagement and cultural healing. There was a sizzle in the studio. And the resulting emotional rush made it onto the album. What a thrill to be there at this auspicious moment and to capture it for all to experience.