Arturo Sandoval is a
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpeter and
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. He was born in
ArtemisaArtemisa is a municipality and city in Cuba, formerly part of La Habana Province.According to a law approved by the Cuban National Assembly in August 2010, Artemisa became the capital city of the newly formed Artemisa Province, which comprises 8 municipalities of the former La Habana Province and 3...
, in the newest renamed
Artemisa ProvinceArtemisa Province is one of two new provinces in Cuba, which creation was approved by the Cuban National Assembly by splitting former La Habana Province.Artemisa was the largest city and municipality of the former La Habana province...
,
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Sandoval, while still in Cuba, was influenced by
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
legends
Charlie ParkerCharles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
,
Clifford BrownClifford Brown , aka "Brownie," was an influential and highly rated American jazz trumpeter. He died aged 25, leaving behind only four years' worth of recordings...
, and
Dizzy GillespieJohn 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...
, finally meeting Dizzy later in 1977. Gillespie promptly became a mentor and colleague, playing with Arturo in concerts in Europe and Cuba and later featuring him in The United Nations Orchestra. Sandoval
defectedIn politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
to the United States of America in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, while touring with Gillespie in 1990, and became a naturalized citizen in 1999.
Sandoval's life was the subject of the 2000 TV film
For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval StoryFor Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story is a film about Arturo Sandoval starring Andy García.The biographical drama was produced for the HBO premium cable network and first aired on October 18, 2000...
, starring
Andy GarcíaAndrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...
. He currently resides in Calabasas, California.
Background
Arturo Sandoval began to play music at age 13 in the village band. After playing many instruments, he fell in love with the
trumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
. In 1964, he began three years of serious classical trumpet studies at the Cuban National School of Arts. By the age of 16 he had earned a place in Cuba's all-star national band. By this time, he was totally immersed in
jazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, with
Dizzy GillespieJohn 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...
as his idol.
In 1971 he was drafted into the military. Luckily, Sandoval was still able to play with the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna. Because of this he was able to continue his daily practice regimen.
In Cuba, Sandoval co-founded the band
IrakereIrakere is a Cuban band founded by Armando de Sequeira Romeu Music Director and composer, and by pianist Chucho Valdés in 1973...
with
Chucho ValdésChucho Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. In 1972 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands. Together with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Valdés is revered as one of Cuba's greatest jazz pianists...
and
Paquito D'RiveraPaquito D'Rivera is a Cuban alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist. The winner of multiple Grammys and other awards, D'Rivera has lived in the United States since the early 1980s. He has worked in a variety of contexts, but is perhaps best known for playing Latin...
. They quickly became a worldwide sensation. Their appearance at the 1978
Newport Jazz FestivalThe Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
introduced them to American audiences and garnered them a recording contract with Columbia Records.
Sandoval was still exploring his musical possibilities and left the group in 1981 to form his own band. He continued to tour worldwide with his new group, playing a unique blend of jazz and Afro Cuban music. In addition to playing Afro Cuban jazz, he performed classical music with the
BBC Symphony OrchestraThe BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
in London and the
LeningradSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
Symphony in the former Soviet Union.
He enjoys a successful recording career that extends outside of mainstream jazz. He has recorded as a sideman with
Johnny MathisJohn Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
,
Gloria EstefanGloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
,
Kenny GKenneth Bruce Gorelick , better known by his stage name Kenny G, is an American, adult contemporary and smooth jazz saxophonist. His fourth album, Duotones, brought him breakthrough success in 1986...
,
Paul AnkaPaul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
,
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, and
Dave GrusinDavid Grusin is an American composer, arranger and pianist. Grusin has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy award and 12 Grammys...
. He has also played in concerts with
Woody HermanWoodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
,
Herbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
,
Woody ShawWoody Shaw was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and band leader, often referred to as the "last innovator" in the jazz trumpet lineage...
,
Stan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
,
Céline DionCéline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
,
Tito PuenteTito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
, and recently with
Alicia KeysAlicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
and
Justin TimberlakeJustin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
. In January 1995, Sandoval performed at the
Super Bowl XXIXSuper Bowl XXIX was an American football game played on January 29, 1995 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1994 regular season...
halftime show, with
Patti LaBellePatricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
,
Tony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
and the Miami Sound Machine, in a program entitled "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye", to promote the upcoming Disney theme park attraction. In 1997, he performed with
Céline DionCéline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
at the
69th Academy AwardsThe 69th Academy Awards were dominated by movies produced by independent studios, financed outside of mainstream Hollywood, leading to 1996 being dubbed "The Year of the Independents". All but one of the nominees for Best Picture were low-budget independent movies The 69th Academy Awards were...
performing the song
I Finally Found Someone"I Finally Found Someone" is a song duet from 1996 with Bryan Adams and Barbra Streisand. The song was part of the soundtrack in Barbra's self-directed movie The Mirror Has Two Faces and was nominated for an Oscar...
.
In 2001, Arturo was featured on the album "
Swingin' For The FencesSwingin' For The Fences was the first album by the supergroup Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. Released in 2001, the album quickly became one of the most popular jazz albums of the last 20 years. The album features many acclaimed players and soloists...
" by
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat BandGordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, or simply The Big Phat Band, is an 18-piece jazz ensemble based in California and led by Gordon Goodwin. Goodwin composes most, and arranges all, of the group's performance pieces, as well as playing piano and occasionally tenor saxophone...
. He played solos in Sing, Sang, Sung and Muevos los Huesos (Move Your Bones), the latter of which let him flex his Afro Cuban jazz muscles.
Arturo was also a judge for the 2nd annual
Independent Music AwardsThe Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
Stylistic influences
Sandoval's raw talent has led him to associate with many musicians, but the most important is
Dizzy GillespieJohn 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...
. Dizzy, who was a longtime proponent of
Afro-CubanThe term Afro-Cuban refers to Cubans of Sub Saharan African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community...
music, has been referred to as a type of "spiritual father" by Sandoval. When the two great
trumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
players met in
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in 1977, Dizzy was playing impromptu gigs in the Caribbean with
Stan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
. Sandoval later said, "I went to the boat to find him. I've never had a complex about meeting famous people. If I respect somebody, I go there and try to meet them."
Because of Cuba's political situation, the country had been isolated from American musicians for nearly 20 years when Dizzy visited. Gillespie wanted to hear the music of the black neighborhoods where musicians play
guaguancoGuaguancó is a sub-genre of Cuban rumba, a complex rhythmic music and dance style. The traditional line-up consists of:* three drums, similar to conga drums: the tumba , llamador , and quinto...
(a popular style of rumba) in the street. Sandoval offered to take Dizzy around, but only later that evening, when he got up on stage, did Sandoval reveal himself as a musician.
In April 2006, Arturo Sandoval opened a jazz venue in Miami Beach,
The Arturo Sandoval Jazz Club. Since opening its doors, the club featured both top-notch headlining jazz acts as well as local talent on stage. Open six nights a week for live music, past acts included
Joshua RedmanJoshua Redman is an American jazz saxophonist and composer who records for Nonesuch Records. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition in 1991.-Biography:...
,
Roberta FlackRoberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
,
Roy HaynesRoy Owen Haynes is an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Haynes is among the most recorded drummers in jazz, and in a career lasting more than 60 years has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing and bebop to jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz...
,
Omar SosaOmar Sosa is a composer, bandleader, and jazz pianist.-Biography:Sosa began studying marimba at age eight, then switched to piano at the Escuela Nacional de Musica in Havana, where he studied jazz. Sosa moved to Quito, Ecuador, in 1993, then San Francisco, California, in 1995...
,
The Bad PlusThe Bad Plus are a jazz trio from the United States, consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson, and drummer Dave King, originating from Minneapolis, MN.-History:...
, Moe Goldstein,
Michael LingtonMichael Lington is a contemporary jazz saxophonist and recording artist.Lington plays a distinctive contemporary saxophone leaning strongly towards the pop side of jazz. He reaches a younger demographic than traditional jazz listeners and is emerging as a contemporary face of jazz.Born in...
and
Danilo PerezDanilo Pérez is a Panamanian pianist and composer.-Early life:Danilo Pérez was born in Panama in 1965. He is considered one of the finest contemporary pianists and jazz composers of our era....
. Sandoval himself played at the club at least monthly. It was closed in 2008.
Discography
- 1976 - Havana - with David Amram
David Amram is an American composer, musician, conductor, and writer. As a classical composer and performer, his integration of jazz , ethnic and folk music has led him to work with the likes of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Willie Nelson, Langston...
- 1977 - New York - with David Amram
David Amram is an American composer, musician, conductor, and writer. As a classical composer and performer, his integration of jazz , ethnic and folk music has led him to work with the likes of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Willie Nelson, Langston...
- 1978 - The Best of Irakere - Irakere
Irakere is a Cuban band founded by Armando de Sequeira Romeu Music Director and composer, and by pianist Chucho Valdés in 1973...
- 1979 - Irakere - Irakere
Irakere is a Cuban band founded by Armando de Sequeira Romeu Music Director and composer, and by pianist Chucho Valdés in 1973...
- 1981 - Turi
- 1982 - To a Finland Station - with 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...
- 1982 - Arturo Sandoval
- 1983 - Breaking the Sound Barrier
- 1986 - No Problem
- 1986 - Arturo Sandoval EN CONCIERTO VOL.1
- 1986 - Arturo Sandoval EN CONCIERTO VOL.2
- 1987 - Tumbaito
- 1988 - Straight Ahead
- 1989 - Classics
- 1990 - Live at the Royal Festival Hall 1989 - with 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...
- 1991 - Flight to Freedom
- 1992 - I Remember Clifford
I Remember Clifford is a 1992 album by Arturo Sandoval, the second album he made after fleeing from his native Cuba.The entire album is a tribute to Clifford Brown, who was a great influence on Sandoval; Brown was an influential, highly-rated and much-loved jazz trumpeter who died in an auto...
- 1993 - Dreams Come True
- 1993 - Danzón (Dance On)
Danzón is an album by Arturo Sandoval, released through GRP Records in 1994. In 1995, the award won Sandoval the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance....
- 1993 - Passion - with Regina Belle
Regina Belle is a singer-songwriter who first surfaced in the late 1980s. She is notable for her Grammy award winning duet with Peabo Bryson, "A Whole New World".-Biography:Regina Belle was born in Englewood, New Jersey...
- 1994 - Cubano
- 1995 - Arturo Sandoval y el Tren Latino
- 1995 - Concerto
- 1995 - Arturo Sandoval & The Latin Train
- 1996 - Double Talk - with Ed Calle
Ed Calle is a musician from Miami, Florida. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela.Calle plays the saxophone, flute, clarinet, EWI, keyboards, and vocals. He also composes and arranges music. Dr. Eduardo J...
- 1996 - Swingin
- 1997 - Just Music
- 1998 - Hot House
Hot House is an album by Arturo Sandoval, released through N2K Records in 1998. In 1999, the album won Sandoval the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance.-Track listing:All songs by Sandoval, unless noted otherwise.# "Funky Cha-Cha"– 5:50...
- 1999 - Americana
- 1999 - Sunset Harbor - with Ed Calle
Ed Calle is a musician from Miami, Florida. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela.Calle plays the saxophone, flute, clarinet, EWI, keyboards, and vocals. He also composes and arranges music. Dr. Eduardo J...
- 1999 - Los Elefantes - Arturo Sandoval & Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
- 2000 - Ronnie Scott's Jazz House
- 2000 - For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story - Soundtrack
- 2001 - Piedras Y Flores - Amaury Gutiérrez
- 2001 - L.A. Meetings
- 2001 - Swingin' For The Fences
Swingin' For The Fences was the first album by the supergroup Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. Released in 2001, the album quickly became one of the most popular jazz albums of the last 20 years. The album features many acclaimed players and soloists...
- Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat BandGordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, or simply The Big Phat Band, is an 18-piece jazz ensemble based in California and led by Gordon Goodwin. Goodwin composes most, and arranges all, of the group's performance pieces, as well as playing piano and occasionally tenor saxophone...
- 2002 - My Passion for the Piano
- 2003 - From Havana With Love
- 2003 - Trumpet Evolution
- 2005 - Live at the Blue Note
- 2005 - Journey to Chateau de la Fuente
- 2007 - Rumba Palace
- 2007 - Arturo Sandoval & the Latin Jazz Orchestra
- 2009 - Featured in "The Last" album with Aventura
- 2010 - A Time for Love
- Personnel :*Kenny Barron – piano*Shelly Berg – arranger, piano, rhythm arrangements*Chuck Berghofer – bass*Charlie Bisharat, Darius Campo, Kevin Connolly, David Ewart, Tamara Hatwan, Tiffany Yi Hu, Razdan Kuyumijian, Songa Lee, Natalie Leggett, Phillip Levy, Liane Mautner, Robin...
External links