Arturo Sandoval a Master of Good Music

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Labeling musicians as one of Jazz, Latin Jazz, Salsa, or any other music genre is not something Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval likes to hear.

In this blog I share my conversation with the 10-time Grammy winner that will visit Seattle’s Dimitrious Jazz Alley as part of his U.S. tour, and will entertain the audience with his mastery of various music genres.

Arturo Sandoval a Musician of Good Music

“I’m a musician and I like all sorts of good music” Arturo Sandoval told me in an interview with Latino Music Café. “I like and I’ve played a lot of different types of music; I’ve played classical music, I’ve spent time writing musical scores for movies. I don’t want to be classified or have a label in my forehead that says that I play Latin music.”

In a common pose, Arturo Sandoval has received 10 Grammy / Latin Grammy awards.
In a common pose, Arturo Sandoval has received 10 Grammy / Latin Grammy awards.

The recent discography of Arturo Sandoval speaks for itself. His last 3 albums have been in Jazz (“Dear Diz”), Tango (“Tango Como Lo Siento Yo”), and Traditional Cuban music (“Un Siglo de Pasión”), all of which won either a Grammy or a Latin Grammy. His upcoming new album will be of “Boleros” (which I’ll describe as Latin ballads), in yet the 4th different music genre of his last 4 albums.

In Arturo Sandoval’s live performances, people can enjoy a variety of musical genres, all played with the utmost excellence and passion. Arturo told me “…to me there’s only one type of music; good music.” Of course that’s the only type of music for the maestro Arturo Sandoval because that’s the only kind he plays. In a similar intent, Jazz legend Duke Ellington used to say “There’s two kinds of music: good and bad. I like both.”. Arturo Sandoval clearly only likes the good kind.

In this audio-clip of my conversation with Arturo Sandoval (in Spanish), he speaks of his love for good music:

Traditional Cuban Music and Boleros

The Tampa-based Fuentes family and Mexican crooner Armando Manzanero have one thing in common; they were dedicated the last two Arturo Sandoval albums.

Arturo Sandoval's "Un Siglo de Pasion" is an album of traditional Cuban music.
Arturo Sandoval’s “Un Siglo de Pasion” is an album of traditional Cuban music.

“Un Siglo de Pasion” (released in May 2013) is a traditional Cuban music album dedicated to the Fuentes family, who celebrate 100 years of a Cigar making business in Tampa. A particular interesting note of this album is that Arturo Sandoval recorded this album all by himself, with the help of a couple of guests soloists (one in violin and one in flute) and his sound engineer.

His next album, already recorded and to be released this summer, is one of “Boleros” dedicated to Armando Manzanero, a semi-retired singer-songwriter. He decided to record an album of Manzanero songs because “he has a great talent for writing songs with extraordinary melodies and beautiful lyrics. To me he’s the greatest songwriter in this history of Boleros” said the 10-time Grammy winner.

Dimitrious Jazz Alley Visit as Part of U.S. Tour

The "Medal of Freedom" was presented to Arturo Sandoval on Nov 2013 by President Obama.
The “Medal of Freedom” was presented to Arturo Sandoval on Nov 2013 by President Obama.

As part of his 2014 schedule of live performances, Arturo Sandoval will visit the Jazz Alley in Seattle for shows March 13 to 16. The maestro Sandoval told me that for his shows in Seattle fans of good music can expect a little of everything.

“I like going to Seattle. The people there are very nice, we have a great band, and we always have a great time there. The fans of good music will have a great time as well. For the shows we are always changing the repertoire; playing songs from this album, that album, and adding new songs.”

Besides his shows at the Jazz Alley (click HERE for show times), Arturo Sandoval will be doing live performances across the U.S., and you can find information of the cities and dates in his website HERE.

Those of you lucky enough to live in one of the cities where Arturo Sandoval will perform, you will enjoy a great experience of good music!

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