ELEPHANT is a quartet led by the Brooklyn-born-and-bred composer Adam O’Farrill, featuring Yvonne Rogers on piano, prepared piano, and synthesizer, Walter Stinson on double bass, Russell Holzman on drums, and O’Farrill on trumpet and electronics. Drawing influence from 20th century classical music and minimalism, as well as the beat music of the subsequent drum machine era, ELEPHANT strikes an impressive balance between the freedom and small-group intimacy of the jazz quartet tradition, the patience and emotional scale of Reich, Sakamoto, and Britten, and the urgency and excitement of contemporary dance music. The band's dynamic is further informed by their individual collaborations with the likes of Hiromi, Caroline Polachek, Mary Halvorson, Ingrid Laubrock, Vijay Iyer, and Mulatu Astatke. (Pressetext)

A figurehead of the new American jazz scene, as much at home in the playful, fusion-oriented world of pianist Hiromi as in the more complex, alternative worlds of artists such as Mary Halvorson and Vijay Iyer, trumpeter Adam O'Farrill invents his own lyrical, harsh and resolutely avant-garde music, reinvesting in a very contemporary way the piano-free quartet immortalized by Ornette Coleman. Against this resolutely open backdrop, Adam O'Farrill develops a naturally syncretic universe of compositions that build bridges between tradition and modernity, reflecting both the melodic and rhythmic richness of his Cuban heritage (he is the grandson of legendary arranger Chico O'Farrill) and the abundance of mixed influences that continue to make New York jazz so distinctive. (Pressetext)