Background
Arturo Sandoval began to play music at age 13 in the village band. After playing many instruments, he fell in love with 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 as 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.
In Cuba, Sandoval co-founded the band Irakere with Chucho Valdés and Paquito D'Rivera. They quickly became a worldwide sensation. Their appearance at the 1978 Newport Jazz Festival introduced them to American audiences and garnered them a recording contract with Columbia Records.
Sandoval was still exploring his musical possibilities and left the group in 1981 to form his own band. He continued to tour worldwide with his new group, playing a unique blend of jazz and Afro Cuban music. In addition to playing Afro Cuban jazz, he performed classical music with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in London and the Leningrad Symphony in the former Soviet Union.
He enjoys a successful recording career that extends outside of mainstream jazz. He has recorded as a sideman with Johnny Mathis, Gloria Estefan, Kenny G, Paul Anka, Frank Sinatra, and Dave Grusin. He has also played in concerts with Woody Herman, Herbie Hancock, Woody Shaw, Stan Getz, Céline Dion, Tito Puente, and recently with Alicia Keys and Justin Timberlake. In January 1995, Sandoval performed at the Super Bowl XXIX halftime show, with Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett and the Miami Sound Machine, in a program entitled "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye", to promote the upcoming Disney theme park attraction. In 1997, he performed with Céline Dion at the 69th Academy Awards performing the song I Finally Found Someone.
In 2001, Arturo was featured on the album "Swingin' For The Fences" by Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band. He played solos in Sing, Sang, Sung and Mueva los Huesos (Shake Your Bones), the latter of which let him flex his Afro Cuban jazz muscles.
Arturo was also a judge for the 2nd annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.
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