Adam O'Farrill

Adam O'Farrill, a trumpet virtuoso and innovative composer, upholds his family's deep musical traditions through his progressive approach to jazz. As the grandson of Afro-Cuban composer Chico O'Farrill, he first rose to prominence during the 2000s by performing with his drummer brother Zack O'Farrill inside pianist Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. His profile rose further after he placed third in the 2014 Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Trumpet Competition, which opened doors for work both as leader and sideman with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa and on his own quartet recordings Stranger Days in 2016, El Maquech in 2018, and Visions of Your Other in 2021.

Born in 1994 and raised in Brooklyn, O'Farrill is the son of Grammy award-winning pianist Arturo O'Farrill and classical pianist Alison Deane, and therefore also the grandson of legendary Afro-Cuban jazz composer Chico O'Farrill. Immersed in music from birth, he began piano lessons at age six and trumpet at eight. Alongside his brother drummer Zack O'Farrill, he was encouraged to explore classical, jazz, and Afro-Latin styles at home. He deepened his jazz focus in his teens at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and later earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music.

In 2009 O'Farrill took part in the Jazz in the White House program through the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. The following year he joined the Grammy Jazz Ensemble. Around the same period he released several albums with his brother as the O'Farrill Brothers, including Giant Peach in 2009 and Sensing Flight in 2013. Also in 2013 he received the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. Wider attention arrived after his third-place finish at the 2014 Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Trumpet Competition. From 2014 to 2017 he toured with Rudresh Mahanthappa's band and appeared on the saxophonist's album Bird Calls, while also contributing to his father's Grammy-nominated 2015 release Cuba: The Conversation Continues.

As composer and bandleader, O'Farrill made his solo debut with the Stranger Days quartet on their 2016 album Stranger Days, which featured his brother on drums along with saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown and bassist Walter Stinson. The quartet returned in 2018 with El Maquech, where the trumpeter mixed originals, jazz standards, and Mexican folk songs. Continuing his work with his father's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, O'Farrill has collaborated with artists including Stefon Harris, Olli Hirvonen, Benny Golson, DJ Logic, Kenny Burrell, James Moody, Brasstracks, and Samora Pinderhughes. The group's third album, Visions of Your Other, arrived in November 2021 with bassist Stinson, drummer Zack O'Farrill, and tenor saxophonist Xavier Del Castillo.