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A
trumpeter's trumpeter
Arturo Sandoval's journey to freedom
is filled with accomplishments, tributes
and honors
By Paul Andersen, correspondent.
Redlands
Daily Facts, CA, November 26, 2003.
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| Trumpet Evolution / Arturo
Sandoval |
The blindfold test is a longtime favorite
column among readers of Downbeat magazine,
a storied publication dedicated to the American
music called jazz. In it, a guest musician
is played several songs from different records,
usually by artists who play the same instrument
they do. They are then asked to comment
on the tracks played while also trying to
identify the player.
Recently, a CD came out that might totally
confound trumpet players taking part in
the test: though the styles and music on
the 19 tracks might cause someone to think
that they are listening to a historical
archive of the great players from the last
century, in reality there is but one trumpeter
blowing his horn. The disc is aptly titled
"Trumpet Evolution," ' and the
artist eerily essaying 19 individual styles
is Arturo Sandoval.
"I had gotten the idea in my mind
to do this several years ago," ' said
the trumpeter, who is appearing Friday and
Saturday at Founders Hall, Orange County
Performing Arts Center. "I went to
several record labels with the plan, but
it wasn" t until I came to Crescent
Moon (distributed by Columbia Records) that
I got the go-ahead. Then I started putting
it together, doing all this listening to
different players, choosing who to include
and then learning 19 different eras, styles
and approaches. Man, it was hard!''
On the CD, Sandoval explores the styles
of such jazz greats as King Oliver, Louis
Armstrong, Harry James, Dizzy Gillespie,
Miles Davis and Chet Baker. Vibe Magazine
called it the musical equivalent to an Olympic
decathlon.
"Listening back to it, it is still
hard to do," ' he said in a phone interview
from his Miami home. "And there are
a lot of trumpeters -- Al Hirt, Woody Shaw,
Doc Severinson, among others -- who deserve
to be there." '
Asked if there might be a second volume
someday, Sandoval laughed. "Oh my goodness,
I don" t know if I'd want to go through
that again. But who knows?''
The life that Sandoval has lived so far
is the kind that could easily be a Hollywood
feature. In fact, in 2000, HBO premiered
"For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval
Story," ' starring Andy Garcia as the
trumpeter, to glowing reviews. Sandoval
did the soundtrack and won an Emmy, to go
along with the four Grammys he has won over
the course of a professional career that
began back in his native Cuba at the age
of 12.
A prodigious player known for his stratospheric
high notes and fiery emotional style, Sandoval,
a protege of jazz trumpet legend Gillespie,
burst on the global musical consciousness
as a founding member of Irakere, a group
whose fusion of jazz, rock, classical and
traditional Cuban music caused a sensation
throughout the entertainment world during
the late '70s. When he left that group in
1981, he arguably became Cuba's best-known
musical export.
However, even as a globetrotting musician,
life in Cuba was hard, and Sandoval soon
began planning his defection.
"It" s a tough dictatorship,''
he said simply. "It was difficult to
convince them of anything in terms of what
we wanted to do. Ultimately, they"
ll do whatever they want to do. When we
were touring, they would always send people
with us, from the secret police, to make
sure we wouldn't defect. It was very uncomfortable,
a horrible thing, and defection was absolutely
the only way out. I waited and planned for
a long time before the opportunity came
to get myself, my wife and my son out (of
Cuba).''
That opportunity came in July 1990, when
Sandoval was granted political asylum in
the United States, and the trumpeter, who
attained U.S. citizenship in 1999, now calls
Miami home.
"I feel like a different person here
in America," ' he explained. "The
absolute freedom to do what you want, you
have no idea. And having the opportunity
to hear and listen to music that had been
forbidden, or just not available, it was
the first thing I did, sampling all that
music. Now, I can play what I want to play,
and feature some of the music that has influenced
me." '
He has performed at the Oscars and at the
Super Bowl. He has played for every president
since his arrival in the U.S. He has received
12 Grammy nominations over the years for
his numerous solo recordings, and has even
done a piano album (another instrument he
is proficient on). And he has had the chance
to play with a galaxy of stars, from Gloria
Estefan and Rod Stewart to Johnny Mathis
and Frank Sinatra.
Sandoval has also given a lot of himself
back to the musical community. He is a tenured
professor at Florida International University,
and has been an active participant in Musicares
and Grammy in the Schools, two programs
that the National Academy of Recording Arts
and Sciences uses to bring music education
back into American schools.
There are three scholarships established
in Sandoval's name at the University of
Idaho, Central Oklahoma University and FIU.
He continues to also explore classical music,
and has been a guest with many of the world's
top orchestras and symphonies, and has recorded
a trumpet concerto written for him by John
Williams.
"I believe God has been very good
to me," ' Sandoval said. "I"
ve worked hard, had strong discipline and
done the best I can, and I think in the
end God said, 'I'll give you this little
gift because you've worked so hard. I'll
let you have this recognition.'
"It" s nice to be home for Thanksgiving
for a change, it doesn't always work out
that way, and I'll be flying in to California
right after. These shows will be with my
regular band, and we'll do a few things
from the new record, but mostly I will try
to do whatever I do, what I want to do.
I want to play the songs that got me here.''
Paul Anderson is a La Canada freelance
writer.
Copyright © 2003 Redlands
Daily Facts
Los Angeles Newspaper Group
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