The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance & Ori-Gen Collective Announce Live Streaming Concert Series and Podcast

Nonprofit the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance (ALJA) partners with the Ori-Gen Collective -- a progressive group of New York City-based Latino artists comprised of GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY Award-winners, for the launch of an innovative new platform featuring Latin American roots music, jazz, and technology focused programming. Developed over the past year, the Ori-Gen Collective adapts to the realities of the COVID-19 global pandemic by producing contemporary pan-Latin music content for online audiences. Ori-Gen Collective launches its free weekly concert series on Facebook Live and new Ori-Gen Collective Podcast on Thursday, May 7 at 9 pm EST.

The Ori-Gen Collective features pianist/composer Arturo O'Farrill, saxophonist Miguel Zenón, drummer Antonio Sánchez, singer Sofia Rei, bassist Pablo Aslan, singer Lara Bello, percussionist Rogerio Bocatto, bassist Alexis Cuadrado, arts writer and musician Fernando González, vocalist and guitarist Juancho Herrera, singer Kavita Shah, percussionist Samuel Torres, and trombonist Papo Vázquez.

"We started this Collective simply because it didn't exist, and many of us felt there was a need for it," said Arturo O'Farrill, a Founding Member and also part of the Curatorial Committee. "When surveying the landscape of festivals, we saw a decided lack of Latino presence, and what presence we had, was dictated by promoters who didn't necessarily have any expertise in our music. So we banded together to share our experiences and resources."

"This is our response to this crisis. Each one of us tries to do our part, to contribute something positive, and music is what we know and what we do," added singer/songwriter Sofia Rei, a Founding Member of the Collective and part of the Curatorial Committee. "As a collective, we came together to play a greater role in how our music is presented. We were thinking of changing the future. But now we feel we need to work on the present. That's what the urgency of the moment requires. We all have this need for community, to feel a sense of belonging, and music helps create that -- and we need it now."

The founding members of the Ori-Gen Collective came to the United States following the sound and promises of jazz. Educated in classrooms, on stages, and recording studios, they then applied those experiences to reinterpret and reimagine their home traditions. It's work that, in its wide variety of approaches and styles, challenges, at times radically, postcard notions of Latin music.

O'Farrill commented, "The attitude is timely. It speaks to the atmosphere that we're in. Different thinking is the future. We can't do things the way we've done them, not in live settings, not in virtual settings, not in the planning of events or in setting an aesthetic policy. Things have to change. The world of jazz is much bigger than the one being put forth by the institutions that define it -- and given the contributions that we've made to this music, we demand a seat at the table. That's all."

The Ori-Gen Collective's online concert series launches on May 7 on the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance's newly launched ALJA Digital Village, which serves the community during the COVID-19 pandemic with enhanced online initiatives. In addition to master classes led by expert teachers along with interactive conversations, archival concerts, and streaming performances by a host of acclaimed musicians, ALJA partners with famous venue Birdland to bring Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's weekly residency to music fans worldwide with 18 artists each performing their hearts out, in the comfort of their own homes. Tune in to Virtual Birdland at facebook.com/BirdlandJazzClub and facebook.com/afrolatinjazzalliance.

The Ori-Gen Collective's online concert series features Arturo O'Farrill and Adam O'Farrill (May 7), Antonio Sánchez (May 14), Samuel Torres (May 21), Juancho Herrera (May 28), Sofia Rei (June 4), Lara Bello (June 11), Alexis Cuadrado and Kavita Shah (June 18), and Rogerio Boccato (June 25). The Ori-Gen Collective Podcast broadcasts weekly to "provide a discussion space for musicians and music workers to exchange ideas and generate inspiration amid a scary situation," says podcast producer and host Pablo Aslan. The Ori-Gen Podcast will feature news, interviews, and, of course, music.