Dafnis Prieto Sí o Sí Quartet
Sponsored by Dr. Shirley Murphy
Grammy-winning and Latin Grammy-nominated drummer, composer, and MacArthur Fellow, Dafnis Prieto, a native of Cuba, returns to Outpost with his acclaimed Sí o Sí (Yes or Yes) Quartet featuring Peter Apfelbaum on woodwinds, Martin Bejerano piano, and Ricky Rodríguez, electric bass, on the heels of their 2024 release, 3 Sides of the Coin, his 10th album and one that brought the group together to commemorate Prieto’s 25 years in the United States and his 50th birthday. Prieto notes that in a quartet, the contributions of every member are vital and the “chemistry in the band is well documented in this album.” He cites the band’s 15-year span together in various iterations as a primary reason the album is “executed with such authenticity and precision.” The Sí o Sí Quartet first recorded together in 2009 for the album Live at Jazz Standard NYC. Prieto, who JazzTimes called “one of the most multidimensional artists working today” has, since moving to NYC in 1999, worked with premier artists in both Jazz and Afro Latin music, including Michel Camilo, Chucho Valdés, Steve Coleman, Eddie Palmieri, Chico O’Farrill, Arturo O'Farrill, Roy Hargrove and many others. Noted for “utterly shifting the sonic landscape of the jazz and creative music scene” – the The New York Times likened him to “an asteroid hitting the city” – he has enjoyed extraordinary artistic success as a bandleader, most notably for his “stunning” and Grammy winning 2018 big band recording, Back to the Sunset, and has created music for dance, film, chamber ensembles and for his own bands. A gifted educator, Prieto has conducted numerous master classes, clinics, and workshops around the world. He was on the jazz studies faculty at New York University from 2005 to 2014, and in 2015 joined the faculty of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, where he directs the esteemed Frost Latin Jazz Orchestra.
