Arturo Sandoval - Trumpet Evolution (re-post for requesting: links were erased)

Arturo Sandoval (born 1949) is a jazz trumpeter and pianist. He was born in Artemisa, Cuba.
Sandoval, while still in Cuba, was obsessed with bebop recordings by Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie, finally meeting the latter in 1977. Gillespie promptly became a mentor and colleague, playing with Arturo in concerts in Europe and Cuba and later featuring him in The United Nations Orchestra. In 1998, Sandoval became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Sandoval's life was the subject of the 2000 TV film For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval story, starring Andy Garcia.

Arturo Sandoval began to play music at age 12 in the village band, where he learned the basics of music theory and percussion. After playing many instruments, he finally settled on the trumpet. In 1964, he began three years of serious classical trumpet studies at the Cuban National School of Arts. By the age of 16 he had earned a place in Cuba’s all-star national band. By this time, he was totally immersed in jazz, with Dizzy Gillespie his idol. In 1971 he was drafted into the military. Luckily, Sandoval was still able to play with the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna. Because of this he was able to continue his daily practice regimen, an absolute necessity for trumpeters.

Sandoval has proven to be extremely versatile, capable of playing competently in a variety of styles. He has done classical work, Salsa, Be-bop, and is one of the foremost Cubop players in the world. He can dazzle with his supercharged tone and bop-flavored flurries way up in the trumpet's highest register. Yet, on slower pieces, he has a golden, mellow tone on the flugelhorn, with a subtle sense of swing. He is capable of playing anything, proving it more than once by tackling classical arrangements as well as jazz in the same concert, and he has enough curiosity to search far beyond his Cubop base for repertory.

Sandoval’s raw talent has led him to associate with many musicians, but the most important would have to be Dizzy Gillespie. Dizzy, who was a longtime proponent of Afro-Cuban music, has been referred to as a type of “spiritual father” by Sandoval. When the two great trumpet players met in Cuba in 1977, Dizzy was playing impromptu gigs in the Caribbean with Stan Getz. Sandoval later said: “I went to the boat to find him. I've never had a complex about meeting famous people. If I respect somebody, I go there and try to meet them.” Because of Cuba’s political situation, the country had been isolated from American musicians for nearly twenty years when Dizzy visited. Gillespie wanted to hear the music of the black neighborhoods where musicians play guaguanco (a popular style of rumba) in the street. Sandoval offered to take Dizzy around, and only later that evening when he got up on stage did Sandoval reveal himself as a musician. Wikipedia



Review: JazzTimes (8/03, p.123) - "...Sandoval genuinely admires his models....The superb recording quality discloses ensemble detail muddied by primitive technology in some of the early originals..." Vibe (7/03, p.151) - 3 1/2 out of 5 - "...Arturo Sandoval resurrects the tones and timbres of 19 of the 20th century's greatest trumpeters. Perfectly..."

Musicians: Arturo Sandoval (vocals, trumpet); Greg Huckins (alto & bass saxophones); Dan Higgins (saxophone, alto clarinet); Larry Hall, Wayne Bergeron, Gary Grant, Charlie Davis (trumpet); Bruce Otto, Dick Nash, Bill Reichenbach, Steve Holtman, Andy Martin, Charlie Loper (trombone); Dennis Budimer (guitar, banjo); Luis Conte (percussion). Includes liner notes by Arturo Sandoval, and Ouincy Jones.