Arturo Sandoval and Me...

It’s a tough instrument. It’s very demanding, you need excellent breath skills, you need a lot of air and to train the muscle of the diaphragm to push that air in the way that you need… All those kinds of physical skills before you start thinking about the actual music. The difference between the trumpet and the piano, for example, is that with the piano, you sit down and the music is there already. But with the trumpet you make the sound from scratch. I have to produce the sound. The commitment, the discipline, the passion, the desire to really practice, one hundred percent concentration in what you’re doing… That's the only way you could get a good command of your instrument.

Arturo Sandoval

Here’s a story for you: are you familiar with the name Pablo Cassell? He was probably one of the best cellists in history. And even when he was very old, he was still playing like an angel. Somebody once asked him, "Maestro, why are you still practicing so much?" And he said, "You know why? Because I think I'm improving a little bit!" That's a great lesson for everyone! I actually think that the older you get, the more you have to practice. I even invented this little device, it’s been nicknamed the “Sando-valves,” it’s a mouthpiece attached to the trumpet keys and it allows me to practice anywhere, sometimes I’ll even practice while I’m sitting in the movie theater! It’s essential, especially with the trumpet.

Arturo Sandoval

Irakere (1980) signed by Arturo, Chucho Valdes, Paquito D’Rivera

Born into poverty in Cuba and held back by his government, he risked everything to share his gifts with the world. In the decades since, this astonishing trumpeter, pianist and composer has inspired audiences in every corner of the world and awakened a new generation of great performers. He remains one of the best ever to play.

President Obama awarding Arturo the Presidential Medal Of Freedom, 2013

Some people prefer to find out a shortcut, you know, but I don't believe in that. To express yourself, you should have the skills, the technique in the way you handle your instrument. You have to take that in the palm of your hand. Even if you are extremely musical and you have the ideas and everything, if you don't have that kind of command, you're going to be struggling. You’ll imagine how you want to sound, but you don't have the skill to do it. There’s a big difference between playing what you want and playing only what you can.

Arturo Sandoval on practice...

Grupo Irakere (1964) signed by Arturo, Paquito D’Rivera

Arturo Sandoval is one of the world's greatest and most acclaimed trumpet players whom you have probably seen and heard, but don't recall. He has performed at the Academy Awards with Celine Dion, at the Grammys with Justin Timberlake, at the Billboard Awards with Alicia Keys, at the Super Bowl with Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle and at the White House, where he was feted with a Presidential Medal Of Freedom in 2013 by President Obama. In his illustrious career, he has released more than thirty-five albums as a leader, appeared on hundreds of sessions as a sideman, and is the winner of ten Grammys. Arturo even wrote the score and received an Emmy for an HBO movie based on his life, For Love Or Country, executive produced by fellow Cuban American actor Andy Garcia. Yes, few artists have ascended to such decorated and great heights from such inauspicious beginnings, as Arturo grew up impoverished in Artemisa, Cuba on the outskirts of Havana, and played trumpet in the streets as a twelve year old boy.

Although Cuba was known for its rigorous classical music training and traditions, it was not an hospitable environment for jazz in those early days, as Arturo remembered, "The dictatorship in Cuba, they called jazz the music of the junkie Imperialist! Can you imagine such stupidity? I was a victim of that kind of misinformation, until I eventually found out that jazz music comes from the south of the US, mainly from black people who were descended from slaves. How can you associate that with Imperialism?" Despite the strident communist warnings, Arturo fell in love with jazz, "When I graduated from school, I started playing with a big band and one day we met a journalist, he was a big fan of jazz music, an aficionado who also played the saxophone. He asked me, "Did you ever hear any jazz music?" And I said, "No, what is that!" He played me an LP of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. I’ll never forget that day. It was many, many decades ago when I was 17 or 18 years old, but I never forgot that, that changed my brain upside down. I loved it." Now, Arturo had to chase and find it.

Irakere 2 (1981) front cover signed by Paquito D’Rivera

Listening to jazz in an oppressive regime in Cuba was fraught with complications, as Arturo discovered, "The only way we got to listen to jazz was through shortwave radio, this station called the Voice of America in Washington, DC. They had a daily jazz program they called The Jazz Hour. During my mandatory military service, I used to listen to that program every day. They caught me and they put me in prison for three and a half months! They said that I was listening to the voice of the enemy." Arturo was not dissuaded and, after he completed his service, he helped found a big band. with Paquito D'Rivera and Chucho Valdes, Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, and jammed with Manuel Mirabel and other talented musicians. In the beginning, they played mostly Cuban standards and worked in a couple of American jazz standards, Gershwin's "The Man I Love' and Ray Anthony's "Room 43." Several years later, the Cuban jazz supergroup Irakere morphed out of the Orquesta, as Paquito D'Rivera wanted to have a smaller and more nimble sextet, and took Arturo and Chucho along with him. Irakere was a global success, a Cuban jazz supergroup, perhaps the only one of its kind. Their music incorporated a mix of Cuban Folklore, Cuban Son, Descarga, and BeBop Jazz in a compelling fusion. Arturo remembered the restrictive nature of recording and performing in Cuba, " We wanted to play bebop, but we were told that our drummer couldn't even use cymbals, because they sounded 'too jazzy.' We eventually used congas and cowbells and, in the end, it helped us come up with something new and creative."

A chance meeting with the trumpet maestro Dizzy Gillespie in 1977 forever altered Arturo's life, "The first time I met him in 1977, Dizzy was playing on a cruise ship that was stopping in Havana for two nights. I showed up at the harbour because my friend got me a job as a chauffeur, and when I saw Dizzy, I was so starstruck. I couldn’t believe it. They asked me if I was a musician, and I said no. I was so nervous! So he got in my car and I showed him Havana for the first time. Well, later on they were having a jam session and I got out my trumpet, and Dizzy said, “What the heck? My driver is playing the trumpet!” And then we played together. We established an incredible relationship, he was like a second father to me. That was one of the best gifts I ever got from God, to meet my own hero and become so close to him. This taught me that you never know what’s going to happen! My philosophy is to concentrate on today. Whatever's going to happen in the future, we have no control. And whatever happened in the past, it's history already, it's gone… So focus on today, do the best you can, because the rest is in the hands of God."

Irakere 2 (1981) back cover signed by Arturo

From driver to protege to peer to US citizen, the arc of Arturo's remarkable life was shaped by the artistry and generosity of Dizzy. Invited to perform and tour in 1989 with Dizzy as a member of the United Nations Orchestra, Arturo defected at the American Embassy in Athens, Greece, accompanied by Dizzy, "He helped me a lot in every sense, including..(how) to get the political asylum to come to America." A glorious career was the result for Arturo as he recorded tributes to his trumpet heroes, Clifford Brown: I Remember Clifford in 1992 and Dizzy Gillespie: Dear Diz (Every Day I Think Of You) in 2012, and participated on recordings with Paul Anka, Tony Bennett, Vicki Carr, Alicia Keys, Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart and so many others in his extensive and varied discography. As he reflected in 2022, "You have to do what you have to do. We had no choice. But for me, all of that changed 32 years ago when I came to the US and I started to experiment and enjoy so much the most important thing in life: freedom. It’s the most important word in the dictionary for me. Freedom of all kinds. When you really learn the difference between having freedom, and having no freedom… that's when you really appreciate it so much more. In the US, they take it for granted. They don’t appreciate the freedom that they have. It’s a shame because I think we need to protect that freedom. Life without freedom is not life at all!"

Arturo blowing - December 4, 2019, Blue Note, NYC

I had the great pleasure to see Arturo and his band, featuring Will Brown on guitar, Mike Tucker on sax, and Ricardo “Tiki" Pasillas on percussion at the Blue Note in New York City on December 4, 2019. The show was a dizzying display of the many talents of Arturo on piano, synthesizer, trumpet, and he even channeled Tito Puente on a torrid timbales solo. Song highlights included a smoldering “Joy Spring” written by his hero Clifford Brown, a crooning "When I Fall In Love," where he inhabited Nat King Cole, albeit a strolling in the Blue Note aisles Nat King Cole, and a percussive "Shake Your Booty Baby" replete with James Brown's throbbing accents and pulsating rhythms. It was a wonderful night with all the various musical food groups represented.

Havana/New York (1977) signed by Arturo, Candido, Paquito D’Rivera, David Amram

After the show, I visited Arturo in his dressing room. He was gracious to sign some vinyl. "Oh, I love David Amram, " he gushed as he signed Havana/New York, “I see that you have a lot of my friends here," pointing to Paquito D'Rivera and Candido. When I handed him Irakere 2, he smiled and flipped to the back cover. 'Would you mind signing the front cover?' I suggested. "But I'm right here," he said, pointing to his smiling visage. 'But your friends are on the other side,' I mildly protested, showing him Paquito’s signature, "But I'm signing here," he said, flipping to the back where his portrait was. I thanked him again for his time, incredible music, and especially his versatility as a multi instrumentalist.

Arturo Sandoval, arranger, composer, pianist, trumpet player extraordinaire and a freedom fighter who keeps on fighting. Long may he play!