• Submitted by: manso
• Arts and Culture
• 03 / 25 / 2011

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Published on Thu, Mar 24, 2011. Savor the many flavors of jazz with jazz legend Arturo Sandoval, Friday March 25 at 7:30 p.m., at Edmonds Center for the Arts.  Arturo Sandoval is fluent in at least four musical languages.He can burn through an Afro-Cuban groove, tear up a bebop tune, soar over a Mozart concerto and soothe with a luscious ballad.

A protégé of the legendary Dizzy Gillespie, Sandoval was born in Artemisa, a small town in the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, just two years after Gillespie became the first musician to bring Latin influences into American Jazz.

Sandoval began studying classical trumpet at the age of twelve, and has since evolved into one of the world’s most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist and composer.

While still in Cuba, he co-founded the band Irakere with Chucho Valdes and Paquito D’Rivera. Their appearance at the 1978 Newport Jazz Festival introduced them to American audiences and garnered them a recording contract with Columbia Records.

Granted political asylum in July 1990 and US citizenship in 1999, Arturo has been awarded four Grammys, six Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award, the latter for his composing work on the underscore of the HBO movie based on his life, “For Love or Country” starring Andy Garcia.

In October 2010, Billboard Magazine celebrated Sandoval’s 50 years of performing with a multi-page tribute and he received three more Latin Grammy nominations for his recent album, “Time for Love”.

Arturo’s versatility can be heard on recordings with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Bill Conti, and Stan Getz to Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart and Alicia Keys, just to name a few.

He has performed with Celine Dion at the Oscars, John Williams at the Boston Pops, and at the Super Bowl with Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle.  He can also be heard on Dave Grusin’s soundtrack for “Havana”, in the “Mambo Kings” soundtrack with his Grammy nominated composition “Mambo Caliente”, and was commissioned by the Kennedy Center to compose the music for the ballet of “Pepito’s Story” choreographed by Debbie Allen.  

He plans a special tribute album to his mentor Gillespie in spring 2011.

Source: www.edmondsbeacon.com/news/article.exm/2011-03-24_jazz_master_brings_inc...