9/20/2021
Performances and Artists
Multi-Grammy Winning Jazz Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval to Perform Latin, Jazz, Classical and More
As one of the world’s leading jazz innovators, multi-Grammy winner Arturo Sandoval draws rich musical inspiration from his native Cuba.
And for good reason.
The trumpeter not only learned the Afro-Cuban stylings there that define his sound – but Cuba also served as the setting for a serendipitous event that made his global career possible.
Cuba further tested Sandoval’s love for his artform in a way he will never forget.
All of this combined to nurture his peerless talent and passion, leading to three Grammys, an Emmy, six Billboard awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“For me, music is only one (style). A good one,” says Sandoval, “I love all kinds of music, and I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can about anything that sounds good to me.”
A True Test
While people now recognize Sandoval’s name worldwide, he faced many obstacles on his musical journey.
These include going to jail for listening to jazz in Cuba.
“I was in the obligatory military service for three years, when the sergeant caught me listening to the ‘Voice of America Jazz Hour’ on my short-wave radio,” he remembers from the early 1970s. “They put me in jail because I was listening to the voice of the enemy.”
But this didn’t diminish his hunger for jazz.
The Night That Made It All Possible
Sandoval went on to teach himself trumpet — all the while immersed in his country’s rich, musical culture.
“My first job as a musician was in my own village, playing traditional Cuban music,” Sandoval recalls. “Of course I fell in love with traditional Cuban music, and I’ve been playing that all my life.”
Then while still a young man, Sandoval happened to encounter jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie when the latter visited Cuba on a jazz cruise in 1977.
Fate must have played a hand, as Gillespie visited on the first cruise ship taken from America to Cuba in 16 years.
The cruise ship’s visit gave American and Cuban musicians a rare chance to meet informally at a Havana hotel for a rare jam session.
There, Gillespie — hailed as the first artist to merge Latin influences with American jazz — recognized Sandoval’s raw talent.
Gillespie became his personal mentor, helping launch Sandoval’s career.
“The greatest lesson I got from Dizzy Gillespie was his love for music and his enthusiasm,” Sandoval remembers. “He was really contagious, that passion that he got from music.”
Merging Genres
Ever exploring how to push musical boundaries, Sandoval will perform a wide variety of genres at his November concerts.
“I want to tell stories (through music), and if the audience understands what I’m saying, that’s the perfect connection,” Sandoval says.
Also highly adept with complex, classical repertoire, he will showcase a rich blend of songs spanning Latin, jazz, classical and more.
“(Audiences) are going to see a band with big soul and a huge desire to entertain people,” Sandoval promises.