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An exceptionally gifted trumpet player and composer,
Adam O'Farrill carries on his family's rich musical heritage with his own forward-thinking jazz. The grandson of Afro-Cuban composer
Chico O'Farrill, he initially gained acclaim in the 2000s playing alongside his brother drummer
Zack O'Farrill in their father pianist
Arturo O'Farrill's
Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. After finishing third in the 2014 Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Trumpet Competition, he established himself as a leader and sideman playing with saxophonist
Rudresh Mahanthappa, as well as with his own quartet on albums like 2016's Stranger Days, 2018's El Maquech, and 2021's
Visions of Your Other.
Born in 1994,
O'Farrill grew up in Brooklyn the son of Grammy award-winning pianist
Arturo O'Farrill and classical pianist
Alison Deane. He is also the grandson of the legendary Afro-Cuban jazz composer
Chico O'Farrill. Surrounded by music from birth,
Adam started playing piano at age six and trumpet at eight. Along with his brother, drummer
Zack O'Farrill, he was encouraged to play a variety of music at home including classical, jazz, and Afro-Latin styles. Focusing on jazz, he further developed in his teens while attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, after which he earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music.
In 2009,
O'Farrill participated in the Jazz in the White House program as part of the
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. The following year, he was chosen as a member of the Grammy Jazz Ensemble. Around this time, he issued several albums with his brother as
the O'Farrill Brothers including 2009's Giant Peach and 2013's
Sensing Flight. Also in 2013, he was awarded the ASCAP
Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. He then came to wider recognition when he finished third at the 2014 Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Trumpet Competition. From 2014 to 2017,
O'Farrill toured as a member of
Rudresh Mahanthappa's band, during which time he also appeared on the saxophonist's album Bird Calls. He also played on his father's Grammy-nominated 2015 album
Cuba: The Conversation Continues.
As a composer and bandleader,
O'Farrill made his solo debut with his Stranger Days quartet on their eponymously titled 2016 album Stranger Days, featuring his brother on drums, as well as saxophonist
Chad Lefkowitz-Brown and bassist
Walter Stinson. The quartet returned in 2018 with El Maquech, which found the trumpeter playing a mix of originals, jazz standards, and Mexican folk songs. Along with continued work as a member of his father's
Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra,
O'Farrill has worked with a wide array of artists including
Stefon Harris,
Olli Hirvonen,
Benny Golson,
DJ Logic,
Kenny Burrell,
James Moody,
Brasstracks,
Samora Pinderhughes, and others.
O'Farrill's third album with Stranger Days,
Visions of Your Other, arrived in November 2021 and found him joined by bassist
Stinson, his brother drummer
Zack O'Farrill, and tenor saxophonist
Xavier Del Castillo. ~ Matt Collar