course, I have been determined to preserve Cuban rhythms, and I always have the rhythm section in mind when I write. You have to write horn parts that don't collide with the rhythmic concept." This is indicative of O'Farrill's general compositional style: he is heavily associated with the Latin idiom in jazz, but his works are typically closer to more mainstream American big band jazz in melody and harmony, and mostly incorporate Cuban music in the rhythms. In fact, it is Chico O'Farrill who is credited with first introducing the clave to jazz band rhythm sections. Owing to his strict conservatory education, first at the Havana Conservatory and then the Juilliard School, O'Farrill composed in a highly strict, tightly-organized fashion. His pieces are constructed down to minute details, and while improvisation is a hallmark of many jazz styles, his works use a minimum of it; Ben Ratliff, writing for The New York Times, describes his work as "cinematic", saying that the music is "complicated and leaves little to chance." O'Farrill's style is best described as a fusion of the Cuban music he heard growing up, the jazz music that he became enamored with in school, and the European classical music he studied in conservatories, and it is best summarized in his Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite. Even just the title alludes to the inclusion of these three elements, and several movements are inspired by music of a Latin idiom (Canción, Mambo, Rhumba Abierta), while others are more jazz-inspired (6/8, Jazz), and all are brought together under the orderly form of a European suite. O'Farrill states about this piece, "I was never an expert on Cuban music. What I did, for example, in that suite was purely instinctive [...] They asked me, 'write a suite, Chico,' [so] I just wrote according to my best understanding, letting my jazz sensibility to [sic] guide me most of the time." Critical reception Todd Barkan, O'Farrill's manager and record producer from his 90s comeback on, notes in his obituary that O'Farrill "felt a good measure of appreciation for his contributions. The interest that surrounded his work when he returned to recording in the '90s exceeded everything that he had experienced up until that point." Two of the three albums released after his 1990s return were nominated for Grammy awards, and he was featured in the Latin jazz film Calle 54. In a review of Pure Emotion, Paul