For Arturo Sandoval, jazz represents a way of life, but the way it came into his life could only be described as an act of fate. The trumpet aficionado, who grew up in Artemisa, Cuba, learned to love the genre through the sounds of Dizzy Gillespie, whose music would became a guiding force.
During his military service, Sandoval was caught listening to American jazz broadcasts on a shortform radio; he was jailed for a little over three months. During the period that followed, Sandoval was allowed to play publicly in only limited circumstances. But after his release, he was enlisted by local musicians to drive Gillespie around Havana during a brief tour stop. Later that night, Gillespie happened upon Sandoval rehearsing backstage at a club. Gillespie would take Sandoval on tour, then help him defect to America.
Sandoval has since defined, re-defined, and broken the ceiling of what some would box into the umbrella of Latin Jazz. He, however, sees it differently. “It’s someth…