The return of Arturo Sandoval, the trumpet player who fled Cuba 30 years ago

A brilliant trumpet player with flawless technique. Cuban musician Arturo Sandoval argues that jazz makes him feel free, especially when he improvises: “Jazz is freedom and the word freedom is the most important in any language“.

“There is nothing more important to a human being than to feel free, and I can tell you why I lived under a dictatorial regime and have enjoyed freedom for 33 yearswhat my country is missing, “said the 72-year-old trumpeter, during the telephone conversation with Clarione.

An inevitable theme for the artist is the Patria y Vida movement, which calls for a return to freedom on the islandin opposition to the Castro slogan Patria o Muerte.

“A year ago the Patria y Vida e movement emerged it looked like a light at the end of the tunnel. He encouraged me, because in all these years I have been very skeptical about the possibility of a change in Cuba. Thought: I will die without being able to visit my home country”Said Sandoval.

The trumpeter will return to Buenos Aires to perform on Saturday 13 Augustat 9 pm, at the Opera Theater, with a brand new septet also composed by Michael Tucker on sax, Maxwell Haymer on piano, William Brahm on guitar, Maximilian Gerl on electric bass, Mark Walker on drums and Daniel Feldman on percussion.

“I couldn’t be happier, more satisfied with this group, our proposal goes through so many different music and it has to do with the fact that I keep listening to so many different music to enrich myself and keep learning”, said this award-winning musician. . He has won ten Grammy Awards, six Billboard Awards and an Emmy..

An innovative musician who achieved notoriety as a trumpet player in the splendid jazz fusion group Irakere, emerged from the Cuban Orchestra of Modern Music and created in 1973 by the pianist Chucho Valdéswho had Paquito D’Rivera on saxophone, Carlos Emilio Morales on guitar and Enrique Plá on drums, among others, with emblematic albums such as Grupo Irakere (1976) and Iraqi (1979), which won the Grammy in 1980 as Best Latin Recording.

the trumpeter moves with solvency on any terrain, from jazz you can move on to classical music without losing technical quality or expressive capacity. “I like music in general and I am a musician who is still interested in learning,” she added.

“Jazz got me in trouble”

Sandoval was born in Artemisa, Cuba, in November 1949, in a house without resources, e it was at school that he started joining the band until at the age of ten he leaned towards the trumpet, although it was not one of the instruments the band had; It was his aunt who gave it to him.

At the age of 12 he began studying classical trumpet until, at the age of 17, a good friend played him a jazz record with Dizzying Gillespiewho would become his mentor after his escape from Cuba, e Charlie Parker: “I will never forget that day, nor what that music caused me”.

That inclination towards jazz brought him serious problems with the dictatorship. “I got into trouble – he pointed out – for my love for jazz in Cuba”. He once said that while he was doing his three years of military service, he listened to the radio at night The voice of the Americasuntil they found out: “The sergeant said that was the enemy’s voice and they sent me to the brig for three months for listening to that program ”.

About Irakere he explained: “We survived because we played Afro-Cuban rhythms and, underneath, we improvised in a jazz way; we played bebop with cowbells and Afro-Cuban percussion; I would say it was jazz, but with an Afro-Cuban touch, which is why the authorities accepted this proposal ”.

His story about how he met Gillespie, the main person responsible for his escape from Cuba, it’s curious. “I met Dizzy in 1977. Dizzy was playing on a cruise ship that called in Havana for two nights. I was one of those who showed up at the port at the behest of a friend who found me a job as a driver and I got dizzy “.

“When I saw him in person I was dazzled, even though I said I was not a musician, to take the job. He got into my car and I showed him Havana,” the musician said in a previous interview.

And he continues: “Much later a Jam session And that’s when I got my horn out and Dizzy yelled, “This is my driver and he’s playing!” We played together and developed an incredible relationship, he was like a second father to me. One of the best gifts I have received from God in my life, ”said the musician.

A musician without boundaries of genre

One of the central aspects of Sandoval’s career is his interpretative quality. Now, although known for that markedly Latin style of high notes, Sandoval he is a balanced artist with golden tonescapable of dealing with the classical repertoire, as well as jazz and traditional Cuban music.

Some of his albums, like Flight to freedom (1991), The Impeccable Remember Clifford (1992), the splendid Danzon (1993) or the famous Dear Diz (every day I think of you) (2012) show a trumpeter of a superb swing, flawless sound quality and a relaxed mastery of the instrument.

In his search for new directions he registered My passion for the piano (2001) where he reveals himself as a virtuoso pianist, without ostentation, with some classics such as All the things you are or I saw it rain this afternoon Y Tango, how I feel you (2011) in which part of the cremate me tango, like Nestore Marconi in bandoneon e Maria Graña, Raul Lavié and Julia Zenkoamong other items.

His tribute to Armando Manzanero, with Eternally apple tree (2014), together with Jorge Calandrelli, follows this line of permanent research and marks an interesting step for the pianist’s masterful compositions. they would come later Live at Yoshi’s (2015) and Last duet (2018), with Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau, Celia Cruz, Placido DomingoJuan Luis Guerra, Alejandro Sanz and Ariana Grande, among others.

His escape from the Cuban regime

One topic that continues to arouse interest is his escape from Cuba in March 1990.

He says: “Escape was a desire I had for a long time. He was in pain, he had all kinds of problems, but he was married and had a son, and he wasn’t going to take this step alone. The Cuban dictatorship made a mistake and that was to give my wife and son super special permission so that they could travel to Europe while I was playing there. I couldn’t waste that opportunity “.

And the story continues: “Dizzy helped me, he was the one who accompanied me to the US embassy in Athens. At that embassy they made the mistake of sending a coded message to the US office of interest. in Havana and the government of Fidel Castro intercepted and unleashed a real hunt trying to find my wife and my son to send them back to Cuba “.

A detail he shares: “But they were hiding in a good friend’s country house. And we managed to escape to Florida, where we settled when we arrived in the United States.”

By the way, about his escape from Cuba, the film For love or for country. The story of Arturo Sandoval (2000), played by Andy García and with the music of the trumpeter, traces in detail his escape from the Cuban regime.

Regarding Patria y Vida, he argues that “it is the result that many people have hit rock bottom, there is desperation and pain and this can also be seen in other societies that have followed Cuba’s example, such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and, you see, it is a system that does not work. They treat the city as an object and exercise absolute control over the people. They are dictatorships run by liars and corrupt ”.

That hardness suddenly softens tell a popular joke among the exiles: “Pedro and Juan meet on the street and Pedro tells them ‘Last night I was on the phone for an extraordinary time with God. Let’s talk about everything’. And didn’t you ask God when the Cuban problem would be solved so that we could return? “Yes, that was my last question.” And what did he tell you? ‘That’s where he interrupted me. Not even God knows when this question of Cuba will end ‘“.

He said, as a closing of the speech, that he has a finished album due out this month, with new compositions written during the pandemic, in which there is jazz, ballads and Cuban music. After the concerts in South America (Santiago de Chile, Lima, Buenos Aires and São Paulo) they will return to the United States, where five nights, ten concerts await them at the Blue Note in New York.

Where and when

Arturo Sandoval will perform on Saturday 13 August, at 9:00 pm, at the Opera Theater, Corrientes 860. Tickets from $ 3,360 per Ticketek.com.ar.