The New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band

Celebrating their 25th anniversary, the Latin Grammy® Award-winning New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band is an Afro-Cuban jazz ensemble featuring a global alliance of the greatest musicians on the scene today. The group was a nominee recipient at the 2023 Latin Grammy Awards in the “Best Arrangement” category for Waltz of the Flowers from the recording "The Pan American Nutcracker Suite" released on the Angelface Records label. They were also winner of "Latin Jazz Album of the Year" at the 9th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2008 for the recording “Afro Bop Alliance Featuring Dave Samuels,” released on the Heads-Up label. 

The New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band was founded and is led by drummer Joe McCarthy. The band features first-call jazz and Afro-Cuban musicians based in New York City who collectively perform with the greatest names in the business. The music of the band has long been inspired by the great bebop tradition, married to the rich cultural stylings of African, Afro-Caribbean, Brazilian and countless other multi-ethnic styles of music.

Guests who have recorded and/or performed with the band include Paquito D’ Rivera, Poncho Sanchez, Francisco Torres, Luis Perdomo, Manuel Valera,  Arturo O’ Farrill, Dave Samuels, Roland Vazquez, and many more.

New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band has been featured at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Yale University (Ellington Jazz Series), The Segerstrom Center for Arts, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, The Silver Spring Jazz Festival, The Provincetown Jazz Festival, and many more venues across the country.