JAZZ REVIEW : O’Farrill’s Reward at Workshop

Chico O’Farrill, whose works were performed in the third installment of the John Anson Ford Theatre’s Jazz Composers Workshop Series on Saturday, has never received the recognition he deserves.

An early exponent of Afro-Cuban rhythms in jazz and an important bop-styled arranger/composer, O’Farrill conducted his own music in a showcase program featuring Art Farmer, Supersax and the Mark Masters Big Band.

His “Afro-Cuban Sketches” and “Aztec Suite,” both of which employed Farmer as trumpet soloist, juxtaposed unusual instrumental timbres--variously muted brass, flutes, clarinets--against surging rhythmic montunas . Farmer started slowly, not quite in sync with the earlier piece. By the time he soloed on the lyrical sections of the “Suite,” however, he was in fine form, pouring out streams of precisely chosen notes, and hitting his upper register in a rare display of musical extroversion.

Supersax appeared only briefly, playing a harmonized version of Charlie Parker’s solo from the original recording of the “Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite.” Despite an audio mix that lost much of Med Flory’s lead alto line, Supersax’s appearance in a kind of concerto grosso context with the larger ensemble was an innovative use of their remarkable skills.

O’Farrill’s charts, with their demanding technical passages and disjunct rhythms, were played with great enthusiasm and dexterity by the Masters group. Brief solos by saxophonists Jerry Pinter and Danny House were first-rate--the final touches on an evening that celebrated O’Farrill’s talents with some well-deserved acknowledgment.