Jazz and music of India, Pakistan, and Egypt overlap in work by Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra playing music by Carla Bley, Anglo-Indian percussionist Sarathy Korwar, and music from Cairo’s Maurice Louca. Listen to the final commissioned work by the late composer, pianist, and bandleader Carla Bley called “Blue Palestine,” written for pianist Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. A four-part suite that experiments with Middle Eastern rhythms and scales, and South Asian sounds, “it also wanders into lots of other, less easily mapped places. Bley, by the way, hired a young Arturo O’Farrill to play piano in her big band when he was still a teenager, so this piece represents a closing of a circle. “Blue Palestine” recalls earlier Bley works – “A.I.R.” (All India Radio) from her early 70s masterpiece Escalator Over The Hill – in its willingness to bend to accommodate other forms of music and to inspire individual soloists while still somehow sounding like Carla Bley”,(Schaefer). Listen to some of “Blue Palestine”. Then, listen to music from Anglo-Indian drummer and tabla player Sarathy Korwar together with the Upaj Collective in an arrangement of music by Alice Coltrane which combines East Indian music, jazz, and electronics. Then there’s music from Cairo-based guitarist and pianist Maurice Louca and a 12-piece ensemble of players from Italy, Iraq, Sweden, Turkey, and Denmark. On his record, Elephantine, Arabic melody, African and Yemeni music come together with the spiritual jazz of John and Alice Coltrane, the sounds of minimalism, and trance music. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik Program #4976, Global Jazz (First aired 2/10/2025) ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: Dia de los Muertos - II. La Bruja [1:30]RECORDING: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla BleySOURCE: ZOHO labelINFO: https://www.zohomusic.com/cds/ofarrill_mundoaqua.html ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: Carla Bley: BLUE PALESTINE Part Two [5:34]RECORDING: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla BleySOURCE: ZOHO labelINFO: https://www.zohomusic.com/cds/ofarrill_mundoaqua.html ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: Carla Bley: BLUE PALESTINE Part Three [8:58]RECORDING: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla BleySOURCE: ZOHO labelINFO: https://www.zohomusic.com/cds/ofarrill_mundoaqua.html ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: A.I.R. [4:01]RECORDING: Escalator over the HillSOURCE: ECM RecordsINFO: Available at AppleMusic, TIDAL, Spotify, YouTube Music, and via Discogs ARTIST: Les Miserables Brass Band ManicWORK: Jhanibar Di Panwan Chankar(Jhanjhar Di Pawan Chankar) [4:04]RECORDING: Manic TraditionsSOURCE: Northeastern RecordsINFO: Available at AppleMusic,Spotify, YouTube Music, and via Discogs ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: Dia de los Muertos - II. La Bruja [4:35]RECORDING: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla BleySOURCE: ZOHO labelINFO: https://www.zohomusic.com/cds/ofarrill_mundoaqua.html ARTIST: Sarathy Korwar feat. Upaj CollectiveWORK: Alice Coltrane: Journey in Satchidanada [10:25]RECORDING: My East Is Your WestSOURCE/INFO: sarathykorwar.bandcamp.com ARTIST: Maurice LoucaWORK: The Leper [5:39]RECORDING: ElephantineSOURCE: Northern Spy INFO: northernspyrecs.com/product/elephantine
Jazz and music of India, Pakistan, and Egypt overlap in work by Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra playing music by Carla Bley, Anglo-Indian percussionist Sarathy Korwar, and music from Cairo’s Maurice Louca.
Listen to the final commissioned work by the late composer, pianist, and bandleader Carla Bley called “Blue Palestine,” written for pianist Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. A four-part suite that experiments with Middle Eastern rhythms and scales, and South Asian sounds, “it also wanders into lots of other, less easily mapped places. Bley, by the way, hired a young Arturo O’Farrill to play piano in her big band when he was still a teenager, so this piece represents a closing of a circle. “Blue Palestine” recalls earlier Bley works – “A.I.R.” (All India Radio) from her early 70s masterpiece Escalator Over The Hill – in its willingness to bend to accommodate other forms of music and to inspire individual soloists while still somehow sounding like Carla Bley”,(Schaefer). Listen to some of “Blue Palestine”.
Then, listen to music from Anglo-Indian drummer and tabla player Sarathy Korwar together with the Upaj Collective in an arrangement of music by Alice Coltrane which combines East Indian music, jazz, and electronics. Then there’s music from Cairo-based guitarist and pianist Maurice Louca and a 12-piece ensemble of players from Italy, Iraq, Sweden, Turkey, and Denmark. On his record, Elephantine, Arabic melody, African and Yemeni music come together with the spiritual jazz of John and Alice Coltrane, the sounds of minimalism, and trance music. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4976, Global Jazz (First aired 2/10/2025)
ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: Dia de los Muertos - II. La Bruja [1:30]RECORDING: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla BleySOURCE: ZOHO labelINFO: https://www.zohomusic.com/cds/ofarrill_mundoaqua.html
ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: Carla Bley: BLUE PALESTINE Part Two [5:34]RECORDING: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla BleySOURCE: ZOHO labelINFO: https://www.zohomusic.com/cds/ofarrill_mundoaqua.html
ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: Carla Bley: BLUE PALESTINE Part Three [8:58]RECORDING: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla BleySOURCE: ZOHO labelINFO: https://www.zohomusic.com/cds/ofarrill_mundoaqua.html
ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: A.I.R. [4:01]RECORDING: Escalator over the HillSOURCE: ECM RecordsINFO: Available at AppleMusic, TIDAL, Spotify, YouTube Music, and via Discogs
ARTIST: Les Miserables Brass Band ManicWORK: Jhanibar Di Panwan Chankar(Jhanjhar Di Pawan Chankar) [4:04]RECORDING: Manic TraditionsSOURCE: Northeastern RecordsINFO: Available at AppleMusic,Spotify, YouTube Music, and via Discogs
ARTIST: Arturo O'Farrill & Afro-Latin Jazz OrchestraWORK: Dia de los Muertos - II. La Bruja [4:35]RECORDING: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla BleySOURCE: ZOHO labelINFO: https://www.zohomusic.com/cds/ofarrill_mundoaqua.html
ARTIST: Sarathy Korwar feat. Upaj CollectiveWORK: Alice Coltrane: Journey in Satchidanada [10:25]RECORDING: My East Is Your WestSOURCE/INFO: sarathykorwar.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Maurice LoucaWORK: The Leper [5:39]RECORDING: ElephantineSOURCE: Northern Spy INFO: northernspyrecs.com/product/elephantine