Yosvany Terry Afro-Cuban Quintet headlines Arlington Jazz Fest.

The 2019 Arlington Jazz Festival, now in its 8th year, has scheduled a wide variety of musical events, presented over a 4-day stretch, from April 25-28, in several venues around the town. This year, the Festival is headlined by Yosvany Terry, a Cuban-born musician, composer, Grammy Award nominee, and Doris Duke Artist Award winner.

Fronting his world-class Afro-Cuban Quintet with his alto and soprano saxophones and beaded gourd chekeré, Terry will be joined by his longtime collaborators, Michael Rodriguez (trumpet), Osmany Paredes (piano), Yunior Terry (bass) and Obed Calvaire (drums).

Terry’s original music vividly embodies a sonic world marked by Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and exquisite post-bop angles. He taps into his deep cultural roots as a Cuban leavened by insights gleaned on his global travels. Addressing ancient tradition and contemporary practice, Terry frames his charged improvisations within finely wrought small group arrangements that offer listeners easy access to music that’s genuinely new.

According to the New York Times, Terry’s music has “helped redefine Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz as a complex new idiom.” DownBeat Magazine praises his work as being “physical, cerebral and spiritual music, with a lot of stories to tell.”

The Festival also continues to champion the vibrant jazz scene that flourishes beyond Boston’s city limits. An abundance of local talent will be on full display including performances by Albino Mbie, Mimi Rabson, David Harris, Hilary Noble, Tino D'Agastino, and special guest award-winning saxophonist Carla Marciano from Salerno Italy, making a special stop in Arlington while on a US tour with her quartet.

The nonprofit annual Arlington Jazz Festival is coordinated with assistance from Arlington-based Morningside Music Studio, under the direction of Dan Fox, an Arlington resident, who is a multi-instrumentalist and music educator. The Festival's mission is solid: to raise awareness and appreciation of jazz through the confluence of top performers, local rising ensembles, and student groups, while also fostering a sense of community and an appreciation that Arlington and surrounding towns are indeed a cultural destination. The Festival is supported in part by a grant from the Arlington Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

April is observed nationally as Jazz Appreciation Month, and since 2012, International Jazz Day has fallen on April 30th. Arlington Jazz Festival coincides with the celebration of Jazz Week in Boston and surrounding areas.