Todd Barkan on his Latin Jazz Family

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TODD BARKAN’S LATIN JAZZ FAMILY [:89] NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT Todd Barkan: My relationship with Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban jazz music is one of the longest-lived in my whole life in music going back all the way to the records my parents played, Tito Puente Garner Loves Mambo, “Mambo Garner… Oye Como Va by Tito Puente, up THE INFECTIOUS SOUND OF LATIN JAZZ SHAPED TODD BARKAN’S MUSICAL FUTURE, FIRST AS A PERFORMER, AND LATER AS A GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING PRODUCER. Barkan: I started playing the music when I got to San Francisco, and then when I came here to New York City, one of the first groups I worked with was Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band, which was a very wonderful, cutting-edge Latin jazz band, which led to me starting working with Chico O’Farrill, who was Arturo O’Farrill’s father. Transition to Igor’s Dream Then I got to work with Arturo O’Farrill, Chico’s son, and even Arturo O’Farrill’s children. I feel like that’s my Latin jazz family, and I’ve had the privilege and the honor to work with those people.

THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH NEA JAZZ MASTER TODD BARKAN WAS PRODUCED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.

“Oye Como Va” composed and performed by Tito Puente from El Rey, used courtesy of Fania Records and by permission of EMI Keel Music a/c Sony/ATV, ASCAP. “Igor’s Dream” composed and performed by Chico O’Farill from the album, Pure Emotion, used courtesy of Concord Music and by permission of …. 

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