Biography

Brachfeld is a graduate of The High School of Music & Art

The High School of Music & Art

The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art", was a public alternative high school at 443-465 West 135th Street, New York, New York, USA that existed from 1936 through 1984, and then merged into the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing...

 and Manhattan School of Music

Manhattan School of Music

The Manhattan School of Music is a major music conservatory located on the Upper West Side of New York City. The school offers degrees on the bachelors, masters, and doctoral levels in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition...

. Her career started in the 1970s and she has recorded with Africando

Africando

Africando is a musical project formed in 1990 to unite New York-based salsa musicians with Senegalese vocalists. Musicians from other African countries were later included under the name Africando All Stars....

, Noel Pointer

Noel Pointer

Noel Pointer was an American jazz violinist and record producer.He was nominated for a Grammy award in 1981. Pointer's reputation as an outstanding jazz musician and literary advocate garnered him honorary citizenship in cities across the United States...

, and Timbalaye. Her breakthrough was in the Latin band Charanga ‘76, where she became the first female flute player to play salsa music in the United States.

Brachfeld has studied with Hubert Laws

Hubert Laws

Hubert Laws is an American flutist and saxophonist with a 40+ year career in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Alongside Herbie Mann, Laws is probably the most recognized and respected jazz flutist...

, Jimmy Heath

Jimmy Heath

James Edward Heath , nicknamed Little Bird, is an American jazz saxophonist, composer and arranger. He is the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath.-Biography:...

, and Mike Longo

Mike Longo

Michael Josef "Mike" Longo is a jazz pianist, composer, and author. He is most known for his work with Dizzy Gillespie.-Early life:...

. She has received the Latin New York Music Award twice during her career. She has performed with Dave Valentin

Dave Valentin

Dave Valentin is a jazz flutist.He learned latin percussion first when he was a teenager, and then switched to flute. Valentin's teacher, Hubert Laws, suggested that he not double on saxophone because of his attractive sound on the flute. He studied at the Bronx Community College...

, Nestor Torres

Nestor Torres

Nestor Torres is a jazz flautist who was born in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in 1957. He took flute lessons at age 12 and began formal studies at the Escuela Libre de Música, eventually attending Puerto Rico’s Inter-American University. At 18, he moved to New York with his family...

, and Ray Barretto

Ray Barretto

Ray Barretto was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician.-Early years:Barretto was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent...

, and once opened for Chick Corea

Chick Corea

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...

,and Paco de Lucia

Paco de Lucía

Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...

 in a concert in Venezuela.

She has played as a soloist with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra. They performed compositions by Brachfeld herself, as well as those by Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...

's musical director Mike Longo.

Discography

• Remembered Dreams (Spirit Nectar Records, 2001)
• Back With Sweet Passion (Latin Cool Records, 2003)
• Beyond Standards with Chembo Corniel (Consolidated Artists Productions, 2006)
• Into the World: A Musical Offering (2008)

Awards

• 1974: Louis Armstrong Award for outstanding Jazz student, Jazz Interactions
  Jazz Interactions
  Jazz Interactions, Inc. is a non-profit-making organisation whose aim is "to stimulate a greater awareness of jazz by providing jazz information and educational services to New York metropolitan area"....
  
  
• 2006: Chico O’Farrill Lifetime Achievement Award, Latin Jazz USA