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Arturo O'Farrill has plenty to celebrate. His Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra is marking its 10th anniversary with two all-star concerts at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side.

They’re doing what they always do.

“Bust open the definition of jazz and Latin jazz and the definition of all these musics,” says O’Farrill. “We like to bust it wide open.”

The band is also celebrating a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. But the nomination comes with some controversy. Arturo was extremely critical of the Grammy awards when the parent organization announced last spring it was eliminating the Latin Jazz category. Some have told him he should not accept this award if he wins.

“It’s an award that the musicians and the people who understand the openness earned,” says O’Farrill. “So it’s not mine to accept or not accept. If we actually get it—and there's no guarantee of that—I'll be happy to take it and use it as a vehicle to demand the category be reinstated.”

O'Farrill's organization is also moving forward with plans for an ambitious musical exchange program that would allow young musicians in Cuba and the United States to study and perform together.

“You put young musicians of both nations in the same room and all kinds of sparks fly, because all these young people, they love each other. They don’t know from politics or ideology and they don’t care,” says O’Farrill.