Chico O Farrill is one of the most important composers and arrangers in the history of Latin jazz. Born Arturo O Farrill in Havana Cuba, he attended a military academy in Georgia during the years of 1936 through 1940. It was during this period he discovered jazz and began playing the trumpet. After graduating in 1940 he returned to Cuba where he studied composition. In 1946 O Farrill gave up the trumpet altogether to concentrate on arranging and leading his own band. In 1948 O Farrill moved to New York city writing charts for Gill Fuller. He was then recommended to band leader Benny Goodman who would give O Farrill his nickmane of Chico. Other band leaders were soon using O Farrill’s talents, such as Stan Kenton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Machito. From 1951 to 1954 O Farrill made 6 fiery albums of big band jazz. In 1957 O Farrill moved to Mexico City working for studios and television. During the next 30 years he free lanced writing arrangements for many bands, one of them being the Tanga suite for Mario Bauza in 1991. His son Arturo O Farrill is a pianist leading his own band continuing the tradition of class and sophistication in the field of Latin jazz.