Ars Nova Workshop presents the master Cuban drummer Dafnis Prieto and his Sí o Sí Quartet at Solar Myth on Friday, October 23, 2026.

25 years after his arrival in New York, the Grammy-winning and Latin Grammy-nominated drummer, composer, and MacArthur Fellow Dafnis Prieto has utterly shifted the sonic landscape of the jazz and creative music scene. With Prieto’s appearance on the NYC jazz scene likened to “an asteroid hitting the city” (The New York Times), and a reputation that rightfully lauds him as “one of the most multidimensional artists working today” (JazzTimes), it’s safe to say that his revolutionary drumming techniques and compositions have had a powerful impact on the music landscape, nationally and internationally.

Prieto’s acclaimed Sí o Sí (“Yes or Yes”) Quartet is a rightfully jubilant cohort comprising Peter Apfelbaum on woodwinds, Martin Bejerano on piano, and Ricky Rodríguez on electric bass, brought together for their second release, 3 Sides of the Coin, to commemorate both the bandleader’s quarter century in the United States and his 50th birthday. The album began as a series of musings on the eternally undulating concept of one’s interpretation of the world and how each person’s view may dramatically differ. By taking the compositional and performance brilliance for which he is rightly beloved and marrying it to such a bold and pensive concept, Prieto shows that not only is he a musician of the highest caliber, but a thinker, storyteller, and sonic orator of the heart.