Arturo Sandoval (born November 6, 1949) is a Cuban American jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer.

Sandoval, while living in his native Cuba, was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie, finally meeting Gillespie later in 1977. Gillespie became a mentor and colleague, playing with Sandoval in concerts in Europe and Cuba and later featuring him in the United Nations Orchestra. Sandoval defected while touring with Gillespie in 1990, and he became a naturalized citizen in 1998.

His life was the subject of the film For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000), starring Andy García. Sandoval has won ten Grammy Awards and been nominated nineteen times; he has also received six Billboard Awards and one Emmy Award. Additionally, Sandoval has performed in a Super Bowl Halftime Show (1995),^[1] in an Orange Bowl (2009)^[2] at the White House,^[3] and at the University of Notre Dame.^[4]

On August 8, 2013, former President Barack Obama announced that Sandoval would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.^[5]

Life and career

Sandoval was born in Artemisa. As a twelve-year-old boy in Cuba, Sandoval played trumpet with street musicians. He helped establish the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, which became the band Irakere in 1973. He toured worldwide with his own group in 1981. The following year he toured with Dizzy Gillespie, who became his friend and mentor. In 1989, Gillespie invited Sandoval to be part of the United Nations Orchestra. During a tour with this group, Sandoval visited the American Embassy in Rome to defect from Cuba. He became an American citizen on December 7, 1998.^[6]

Sandoval has performed Latin jazz with Paquito D'Rivera, Tito Puente, and Chico O'Farrill, Cuban music in Miami, and classical music in England and Germany. In the 1990s, he was a member of the GRP All-Star Big Band.^[6]

Sandoval's song "A Mis Abuelos" (To My Grandparents) received Grammy Award nominations for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Arrangement. This composition was featured on his Grammy-winning album, Danzon. Other highlights from Sandoval's discography featuring his compositions include Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You) (2012), Live at the Blue Note (2005), Rumba Palace (Grammy 2007), and Hot House (Grammy 1998).

His 2018 album Ultimate Duets features a self-titled collaboration with Pharrell Williams and Ariana Grande.^[7]

Movies and television

When HBO Films developed a film based on Sandoval's life, he was asked to score the movie, which earned him his first Emmy award. In 1996, Sandoval was commissioned by the Kennedy Center Ballet to score Pepito's Story, a ballet based on the book by Eugene Fern and choreographed by Debbie Allen. Sandoval also composed a classical trumpet concerto that he performed and recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra.^[8]

Sandoval's compositions and performances can be heard in The Mambo Kings, which was nominated for a Grammy in 1992 for Best Instrumental Composition written for a Motion Picture or for Television.

Other work

In 2015, Arturo Sandoval joined the 14th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers. He was also a judge for the 2nd, 12th and 13th Independent Music Awards.

Discography

As leader

• 1982: To a Finland Station with Dizzy Gillespie (Pablo)
• 1983: Breaking the Sound Barrier
• 1986: No Problem (Jazz House)
• 1986: Tumbaito (Messidor)
• 1988: Straight Ahead (Jazz House)
• 1991: Flight to Freedom (GRP)
• 1992: I Remember Clifford (GRP)
• 1993: Dream Come True with Michel Legrand (GRP)
• 1993: Danzón (GRP)
• 1994: Cubano
• 1994: The Classical Album (RCA)
• 1995: Swing Love (Babacan)
• 1995: Concerto (Babacan)
• 1995: Arturo Sandoval & the Latin Train (GRP)
• 1996: Swingin'^[9] (GRP)
• 1998: Hot House (N-Coded)
• 1999: Americana (N-Coded)
• 2000: Ronnie Scott's Jazz House (DCC)
• 2001: For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (Jellybean)
• 2001: L. A. Meetings (Cubop)
• 2001: My Passion for the Piano (Columbia)
• 2003: From Havana With Love
• 2003: Trumpet Evolution (Westwind)
• 2005: Live at the Blue Note (Half Note)
• 2007: Rumba Palace (Telarc)
• 2010: A Time for Love (Concord Jazz)
• 2012: Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You) (Concord Jazz)
• 2014: At Middleton (film score) (Perseverance)
• 2014: Eternamente Manzanero with Jorge Calandrelli (Perseverance)^[10]
• 2018: Ultimate Duets
• 2018: Christmas at Notre Dame

As sideman

With Gloria Estefan

• 1991 Into the Light
• 1993 Mí Tierra

With the GRP All-Star Big Band

• 1992 GRP All-Star Big Band
• 1993 Dave Grusin Presents GRP All-Star Big Band Live!
• 1994 All Blues

With Dave Grusin

• 1994 The Orchestral Album
• 1997 West Side Story
• 1999 Random Hearts
• 2010 An Evening with Dave Grusin

With Ed Calle

• 1996 Double Talk
• 1999 Sunset Harbor
• 2001 Twilight

With others

Filmography

References