FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FANDANGO AT THE WALL: Creating Harmony Between the United States and Mexico

By Kabir Sehgal and Arturo O’Farrill

Foreword By: Douglas Brinkley

Afterword By: Ambassador Andrew Young

Music by: Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra with Special Guests

Grand Central Publishing Hardcover
Publication date: October 9, 2018
$25.00 / ISBN: 9781538747957
Audiobook ISBN: 9781549199950
E-book ISBN: 978153874796

Contact:

Nita Basu, Marketing and Publicity
Hachette Audio
212-364-1109

Alli Rosenthal, Publicity
Grand Central Publishing
212-364-0556

GRAMMY-winning producer and New York Times bestselling author Kabir Sehgal examines the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico, accompanied by a score from GRAMMY-winning musician Arturo O'Farrill and a 6,000-word foreword written and read by historian Douglas Brinkley.

The US-Mexican relationship has involved periods of great friendship with robust trade and loose immigration policies. But its history has also been beset by wars, drug trade, and human trafficking. With the latest Trump-induced xenophobia toward Mexico, this book contextualizes how it is the latest swing in the up-and-down, two-hundred-year history of these two countries.

In a lyrical narrative reflecting on Fandango Fronterizo, a musical celebration held on both sides of the border wall, Sehgal addresses how this broken relationship has been repaired in the past and continues to adapt today. FANDANGO AT THE WALL provides clarity to the current debate regarding construction of the wall and America's posture toward immigration, highlighting the music that works to bring both countries together. With original music accompanying a call-to-action narrative, FANDANGO AT THE WALL demonstrates how music can heal and bridge gaps between communities.

Ultimately the project took on three forms: this wonderful book; an astoundingly gorgeous double album of inspiring and thought-provoking music from Arturo and others including Broadway singer-actress Mandy Gonzalez (Hamilton, In the Heights); and jazz greats Regina Carter (violin), Akua Dixon (cello), and Antonio Sanchez (label: Resilience Music Alliance and available on 9/28); and an in-production documentary focusing on the lives of the son jarocho musicians.

About the Authors & Artists

Kabir Sehgal is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of twelve books such as Coined and Jazzocracy. Among his works are six children's books that he has written with his mother such as The Wheels on the Tuk Tuk and A Bucket of Blessings. He is a contributor to CNBC, Fortune, and Harvard Business Review. A multi-GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY Award winning producer, he has collaborated with artists such as Chucho Valdés, Arturo O'Farrill, Wynton Marsalis, Ted Nash, and Joey Alexander. Kabir is also a composer and musician who wrote an opera on the European debt crisis. Previously, he worked as a vice president at J.P. Morgan. He is a US Navy veteran and reserve officer who served on active duty with special operations in the Middle East. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the London School of Economics. He resides in New York City.

Arturo O'Farrill is a multi-GRAMMY award-winning pianist and composer. He is the founder and artistic director of the nonprofit Afro Latin Jazz Alliance and the Director of jazz studies at Brooklyn College. Born in Mexico, he grew up in New York City. He received his formal musical education at the Manhattan School of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory, and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.