Sandoval Blows Horn for Freedom; Listening to jazz music once offered Arturo Sandoval a kind of escape from Cuba's oppression. But the trumpet master found true liberation after defecting to America

0 Comments | Insight on the News, March 29, 2004

Q: Do you think that the so-called wet feet/dry feet policy should be changed and that the United States should be more open to authentic refugees seeking asylum here?

A: This is a country made out of people who came from somewhere else. We came from different boats on different days. We have to know that not everybody comes here with bad intentions.

A lot of people who are here like me are here to fight for this country. I defend this country, and I love and respect it. Not only did I come to enjoy everything in America, I also came to give my gift from God and share that with everybody. A lot of other people come here to give, as well.

Q: What do you think of President George W. Bush in general and on issues relating to Cuba?

A: His first priority is to keep this country safe and working. A lot of people don't get it. He has a big responsibility. He has a lot more problems than Cuba. He has problems a lot bigger than that. President Bush is a good man who is doing his best for all of us Americans.

I'm a Republican, 100 percent. I believe the best presidents have been Republicans, and I like the older Bush [President George H.W. Bush] very much, as well. I like [Ronald] Reagan very much. But I'm so busy trying to put my music together I'm not very involved in politics.

Q: What do you think of the future of jazz?

A: The future of jazz is in the hands of people who present and promote music. I believe that some people who produce radio and television don't understand the responsibility they have to educate their audience. Sometimes they don't play the best of American music. Actually, very rarely do you see on TV or hear on the radio the best of American music.

The young people must know what jazz is all about. They must learn. That's the music that represents us as Americans better than anything else.

Personal Bio

Currently: Widely regarded by critics as one of the great living jazz trumpeters; Sony recording artist and two-time Grammy winner; professor of trumpet at Florida International University in Miami; music composer; piano player; and occasional singer.

Born: Nov. 6, 1949, outside of Havana, Cuba.

Family: Wife Marianela; two sons, Leonel and Arturo Jr.

Latest project: His 2003 album, Trumpet Evolution, pays tribute to American trumpeters, including Sandoval's mentor, Dizzy Gillespie, plus Louis Armstrong, Harry James, Miles Davis, Maynard Ferguson and Wynton Marsalis. Sandoval plays a signature song of each of these artists interpreted in their style. "I've always wanted to do an album where I can imitate my favorites," he says with a laugh.

Other favorite jazz artists: Pianist Oscar Peterson and the late singer Ella Fitzgerald, of whom he says, "I will always regret not being able to meet her."

John Berlau is a writer for Insight magazine.