Shifting gears again, trumpet maestro Adam O’Farrill pivots from the all-star ensemble he put together to sketch out a forward-looking vision inspired by Depression-era music to fronting a stars-in-the-making quartet assimilating the music of today. Yvonne Rogers (piano, synthesizer), Walter Stinson (double bass) and high school friend Russell Holzman (drums) make up a new ensemble O’Farrill has christened ELEPHANT, and that’s the name of their inaugural album, too.
The young band (O’Farrill himself is 31) reflects a Gen Y perspective of jazz but with the added advantage of the leader being raised by musician parents; father Arturo O’Farrill is a prominent Latin jazz pianist/bandleader as was his father Chico O’Farrill. Thusly, the younger O’Farrill’s interests range from Afro-Cuban and film scores to electronic and art rock, and his wide scope of influences are filtered into something sounding completely fresh and imaginative.
Stinson and Holzman plays a staccato counterpoint to Rogers’ flowing figure for “Curves and Convolutions,” introducing something strange but strangely alluring from the get-go. O’Farrill lets it all sink in before making the lunge into a solo excursion the moves the band from passivity toward brashness.
The “Sea Triptych” trilogy uses water as a metaphor for this fluidly changing music. The rhythmic charge of “Along the Malecon” part is countered by O’Farrill’s echoing horn, sounding as if it is bellowing across the sea. The trumpeter uses effects differently for “The Three of Us, Floating,” simulating the sensation of meditation. The final section, “Iris Murdoch,” is rhythmically active, with O’Farrill and Rogers very much involved with that playing in tight unison.
The influence of Radiohead shows up on “Eleanor’s Dance”; even as it’s all-acoustic, there’s still this electronic pulse to it. “Herkimer Diamond” is an example of O’Farrill deceptive composing and arranging acumen: the drum ‘n’ bass gallop in one corner, the Rogers/Stinson interaction in another and O’Farrill’s floating, muted trumpet completes this mosaic. He cunningly waits until the end to reveal the whole motif.
“The Return” takes its time to take flight but once it does, O’Farrill is cooking with jet fuel. His trumpet soars high for “Thank You Song,” attentively building up to the crescendo.
O’Farrill can write the charts, yes, but has an ear for other people’s fine works particularly of those identified with cinematic scores, such as groundbreaking Japanese electronic pop artist Ryuichi Sakamoto. Sakamoto’s “Bibo No Aozora” gets a perceptive recasting, O’Farrill’s trumpet leaving a commanding resonance balanced by Rogers’ tender comping and Holman’s drums that subtly puts an edginess that goes up against the airy aura of the song.
Adam O’Farrill’s daring to innovate new jazz with disparate non-jazz components isn’t borne out of flinging stuff at the wall to see what sticks but from the acumen to conceive it and execute it with confidence. That’s why he pulled it off in 2025 with For These Streets and he did it again using a completely different approach for ELEPHANT.
ELEPHANT is due out March 20 2026 from Out Of Your Head Records. Pre-order/order ELEPHANT from Bandcamp.
| Album Cover | Artist | Title | Format | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Adam O'Farrill | Stranger Days | CD | Purchase Here |
 | Kevin Sun w/ Adam O'Farrill | The Sustain of Memory | CD | Purchase Here |
 | Aaron Burnett & The Big Machine | Jupiter Conjunct | CD | Purchase Here |
 | Arturo O'Farrill | Mundoagua - Celebrating Carla Bley | CD | Click Here |
- Adam O’Farrill – ‘ELEPHANT’ (2026) - March 16, 2026
- Peter Somuah – ‘Walking Distance’ (2026) - March 13, 2026
- Soft Machine – ‘Thirteen’ (2026) - March 4, 2026
