The Original Influencers: Dizzy, Chano & Chico (Live at Town Hall)
Arturo O’Farill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Featuring Pedrito Martinez, Dayme Arocena, Jon Faddis, Donald Harrison, Melvis Santa
New Live Album (Released August 28 / Tiger Turn) Celebrates The Groundbreaking Collaboration Between Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo That Birthed Latin Jazz
October 14, 2025 -- 6-time GRAMMY winner and 2-time Latin GRAMMY winner Arturo O'Farrill
and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's new album—The Original Influencers: Dizzy, Chano & Chico (Live At Town Hall)—is available now on Tiger Turn. The new album, a concert recorded in 2023 at New York City’s Town Hall, celebrates the groundbreaking collaboration between Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo—a watershed moment that birthed Latin jazz and historic works such as “Manteca.” Press stream / download links are available on request.
In January of 2023, Belongó—a non-profit organization founded by Arturo O’Farrill—and Town Hall presented a concert to celebrate the 75th anniversary of a monumental moment: when jazz met the rhythms of Cuba and changed the face of modern music forever. In 1947, Dizzy Gillespie, one of the great trumpeters, bandleaders and composers of all time, was looking for a new percussionist for a forthcoming concert at Carnegie Hall. He was introduced by his friend Mario Bauza to Chano Pozo, the Cuban master conga player, singer, and composer. The Carnegie Hall concert and subsequent creations formed a new genre and altered the landscape of both jazz and Cuban music. The Town Hall concert and new live album release is also a celebration of the role that O’Farrill’s father, Chico O’Farrill, played in this musical evolution. Chico O’Farrill, a Cuban-born legend in Latin jazz who wrote and arranged for Count Basie, Machito, and Stan Getz, would join with Dizzy Gillespie to become one of the main arrangers and orchestra leaders of Latin jazz. Arturo O’Farrill’s concert features a performance of the “Manteca Suite,” a rearrangement by Chico of Gillespie, Pozo, and Gil Fuller’s classic.
The recording captures the 18-piece Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, led by O’Farrill on piano, as well as special guests Pedrito Martínez on percussion (two of Martinez’s compositions are performed), Donald Harrison on saxophone, the singers Daymé Arocena and Melvis Santa, and O’Farrill’s two sons, Adam and Zack, on trumpet and drums. Belongó is an executive producer of the album.
"Town Hall has been the site for countless historic jazz encounters. Amongst the visionaries that insisted that Jazz and Latin were not separate genres but branches of the same musical trunk were Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo, and Chico O'Farrill. This recording pays tribute to those original influencers and their modern day manifestation in the work of today's brightest Afro Latino Jazz practitioners. We thank The Town Hall, musicians, guests, and most of all, listeners who come equipped with wide open ears and hearts!" - Arturo O'Farrill
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Listen to The Original Influencers: Dizzy, Chano & Chico (Live At Town Hall)
Tracklist:
- La Rumba Me Llamo Yo
- On The Corner of Malecon and Bourbon
- Legnua de Obbara
- Mambo Na’ Ma
- Acknowledgements
- Manteca Suite - Movement 1
- Manteca Suite - Movement 2
- Manteca Suite - Movement 3
- Manteca Suite - Movement 4
About Belongó
Belongó, formerly the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, is a non-profit institution dedicated to performing, educating about, and preserving the music of all of the Americas, emanating from African and indigenous roots, through the entry point of jazz. The organization produces the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's annual performance season in New York and manages the Orchestra's weekly engagement at the famed jazz club Birdland as well as performances worldwide. Its educational programs include the Afro Latin Jazz Academy of Music (ALJAM), an in-school residency program serving public schools citywide with instrumental and ensemble instruction; the Fat Cats, a pre-professional youth orchestra that prepares the next generation of musicians; and the Global Rhythms in Our Tribe (G.R.I.O.T.), a music program that connects youth with rhythms and storytelling from global cultures as a way to engage them in anti-violence activities. In addition, it holds a world-class collection of Latin jazz musical scores and recordings.
Currently, Belongó is participating in a development project in the community of East Harlem that will be the future home of Casa Belongó, symbolizing the organization's commitment to fostering a vibrant cultural hub in the heart of the East Harlem community.
Belongó embraces its mission with a commitment to social justice, equity, inclusion, and the equality of all cultures worldwide. For additional information please visit belongo.org.
For more information, please contact Chris Taillie at
Shore Fire Media, 718-522-7171