Celebrating the Trumpet, and an Icon

Thank you for participating in our Jazz Appreciation Month Listener Poll…today we celebrate the trumpet. Be sure to tune in to hear all of your favorite trumpeters, including Arturo Sandoval.

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He can’t be categorized, labeled or defined. All one can say about Arturo Sandoval is that he is an icon. A music icon. A patriot, a winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  His story is so inspiring that a feature film was made about him, with Andy Garcia in the title role, called “For Love of Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story.”

Sandoval was born in Artemisa, Cuba in 1949 and was influenced by the sounds of Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown and Dizzy Gillepsie. He met Gillepsie in 1972 when the jazz great came to Cuba and the two formed a life-long bond that Sandoval chronicled in a book, “The Man Who Changed my Life.” As a young man, Sandoval started touring the world with Gillepsie, who also featured his protegé’s  talents in the United Nations Orchestra. Sandoval defected to the U.S. in 1990 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1999.

But Sandoval’s musical versatility has made him a beloved citizen of the world. He is a virtuoso on the trumpet and the piano, and has also mastered the flugelhorn and percussion.  He has the ability to play both jazz and classical, moving between Latin bands and symphony orchestras with ease. He composed “Concerto for Trumpet” and performed it with the London Symphony Orchestra. He played the Boston Pops with John Williams and the Super Bowl with Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle.  He was commissioned by the Kennedy Center to compose a ballet, “Pepito’s Story” and was a founding member of the Grammy-winning group Irakere, which created an unorthodox sound by combining classical, jazz, rock and traditional Cuban music. He has performed with famous entertainers spanning generations — from Woody Herman, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis to  Josh Groban, Alicia Keys and Rod Stewart.

Sandoval’s distinguished career has been highly decorated, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom he received from Obama in 2013. He has been nominated for a Grammy 17 times and won 10, he has received six Billboard Awards and one Emmy. He has served on the Independent Music Awards judging panel four times and this spring will receive an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Notre Dame. His calendar is full and his genius widely recognized. He is a true citizen of the world.