Show Detail

Adam O’Farrill’s ELEPHANT

Fri, Sep 11

Adam O’Farrill’s ELEPHANT Cover

Adam O’Farrill - trumpet, electronics

Yvonne Rogers - piano

Walter Stinson - bass

Russell Holzman - drums


"Elegant, exploratory, and emotionally dynamic." —Qobuz


“Elephant is O’Farrill’s most engaging and impressive recording to date. The album pops and jabs, hops and slithers. It has all the moves. 9/10” – Will Layman, PopMatters


"This superb band stretch time into abstraction as easily as they can generate dance rhythms- sometimes doing both within the space of a few bars. In fact, their creative core revolves around such contrasts, less as a conceptual framework than simply because it sounds good." —Peter Margasak, The Wire


"There’s a directness to Elephant, an unabashed commitment to clarity, that I think will carry its message to a wider audience than O’Farrill has engaged thus far. If that sounds like qualified praise, let me be clear: I also consider it one of the most artistically compelling statements of his career." —Nate Chinen, The Gig


Acclaimed trumpeter and composer Adam O’Farrill introduces ELEPHANT, his first quartet as the sole horn voice, with a self-titled debut to be released March 20, 2026 via Out of Your Head Records on CD, LP, hi-res download, and streaming. Widely regarded as one of the most vital musicians of his generation, O’Farrill has been hailed by The New York Times as “among the leading trumpeters in jazz” and “perhaps the music’s next major improviser.” At just 31, he has earned deep respect across the jazz community for his staggering technique, emotional insight, and cultural breadth. His name on a record signifies integrity, surprise, and excellence—qualities reinforced by a remarkable run of recent projects. In 2025 alone, O’Farrill appeared on acclaimed recordings including Mary Halvorson’s About Ghosts, Hiromi’s Out There, Tarun Balani’s Kadahin Milandaasin, and his own OOYH octet release For These Streets. His résumé includes collaborations with Rudresh Mahanthappa, Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Anna Webber, Mulatu Astatke, Mali Obomsawin, Micah Thomas, and many others, placing him firmly among the most critically lauded artists shaping 21st-century improvised music.


Despite this visibility, O’Farrill waited deliberately before leading a quartet without a second horn, having built his reputation in bands defined by frontline interplay and collective chemistry. That changed through years of touring and recording experience—most notably as the lone horn in Hiromi’s quartet Sonicwonder—and through the discovery of collaborators who could support a broader, more expansive vision. ELEPHANT brings together three rising New York–based musicians: pianist Yvonne Rogers, bassist Walter Stinson, and drummer Russell Holzman. Rogers combines deep study with fearless spontaneity; Stinson balances consummate fundamentals with elastic, expressive musicianship; and Holzman—an old friend from LaGuardia High School—melds natural swing with high-precision, electronic-rooted rhythms and a finely tuned sense of dynamics. Together, the quartet achieves a controlled intensity that feels both muscular and intimate, equally grounded in jazz tradition and contemporary sound worlds.


Musically, ELEPHANT draws from a wide constellation of influences—post-bop, electronic music, classical minimalism, Radiohead, Jonny Greenwood’s film scores, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and more—absorbed organically rather than as overt crossover gestures. The album’s centerpiece, The Sea Triptych, reflects water’s comfort and mystery across three pieces, from the crashing textures of “Along the Malecon” to the ambient meditation “The Three of Us, Floating,” and the percussive, groove-driven “Iris Murdoch.” Elsewhere, “Herkimer Diamond” exemplifies O’Farrill’s pursuit of balance between density and clarity, while the quartet’s striking reinvention of Sakamoto’s “Bibo No Aozora” replaces strings with trumpet, delay, and electronic harmony without sacrificing the instrument’s essential voice. Throughout, ELEPHANT captures an artist fully inhabiting his moment—confident, curious, and unafraid to let contemporary influences reshape the language of modern jazz on his own terms.


If the total amount of beverages purchased by the party does not meet the minimum, a $20 drink/food minimum is charged per person in the party, per set.


Important Notices:


If you do not check in by 15 minutes into the start of the set, we reserve the right to resale your seats with no refund.


Tickets for this performance are non-refundable. If you are unable to attend, a one-time transfer to a future show of equal value will be accepted. The transfer must be requested 24 hours before the start of the performance.