[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 111 (Thursday, September 5, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1513-E1514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ARTURO SANDOVAL TRIBUTE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 5, 2002

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, as the Dean of the Congressional Black 
Caucus, and chairman of its annual Jazz Issue Forum and Concert, I rise 
to call to this body's attention the achievements of a distinguished 
musician, Mr. Arturo Sandoval. At the age of 52, he continues a career 
that has brought him international acclaim as a musician, composer, and 
bandleader. I am extremely honored that he will be my guest here in 
Washington, DC, on Thursday, September 12, 2002, during the 
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference. 
That evening, my colleagues and I will have the opportunity to thank 
him for the great pleasure that his life's work has brought to its, and 
to millions across this nation and around the world.
  The Congressional Black Caucus is not alone this year in recognizing 
the magnificence of what Arturo Sandoval has accomplished. Sandoval, a 
founding member of the Grammy-winning group, Irakere, has been honored 
by the Recording Academy with twelve nominations and four Grammy 
Awards. Sandoval received Cuba's Best Instrumentalist of the Year Award 
from 1982 through 1990. In 2001, he was awarded the American Society of 
Composers, Authors and Publishers Founder's Award for his 
accomplishments as trumpeter, composer and arranger. He is currently 
the Professor of Trumpet at the Florida International University School 
of Music. However, Mr. Sandoval's accomplishments are hardly limited to 
the trumpet, he is an accomplished pianist in both classical and jazz 
styles.
  Born November 6, 1949, in Artemisa, a small province of Havana, Cuba, 
Arturo Sandoval has for 40 years been a musical prodigy. He began his 
musical career in his village band at the age of 13. In 1964, he began 
three years of classical trumpet study at the Cuban National School of 
Arts. At 16, he earned a place in Cuba's national all star band. 
Drafted in to the military in 1971, Sandoval was able to play with the 
Orquestra Cubana de Musica Modema and continued his daily practice 
regimine.
  Sandoval's talent has led him to associations with many of the great 
jazz musicians, but his most important association was his friendship 
with the legendary Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 Gillespie was visiting 
Cuba, when Sandoval decided to seek his counsel. Sandoval and Gillespie 
quickly became friends and Gillespie invited Sandoval to perform and

[[Page E1514]]

tour with Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra. Arturo looked to 
Gillespie ``as a spiritual father'' and their collaboration led to 
further innovations in Afro-Cuban music and jazz. Their collaboration 
is featured on the 1992 Grammy winning recording Live at Festival Hall.
  After his discharge from the military he co-founded Irakere, which 
became Cuba's most important jazz ensemble, with saxophonist Paquito 
D'Rivera and pianist Chucho Valdes. Their performance together at the 
1978 Newport Jazz Festival in New York introduced Arturo to American 
audiences and led to a recordirg contract with Columbia Records. Their 
collaborations culminated in 1979 when Irakere won the Grammy for Best 
Latin Recording. In 1981, Arturo left Irakere to pursue new musical 
possibilities, continuing to tour worldwide with his own band and as a 
classical trumpeter.
  In 1990, in the midst of a European concert tour, he defected at the 
American Embassy in Rome.
  In 1994, he received a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album for his 
recording Danzon. He received that prestigious award again in 1998 for 
his work, Hot House.
  In 1998, with President Clinton as a cosponsor, he became an American 
citizen.
  His most recent work My Passion for the Piano, released in 2002, is a 
remarkable recording inspired by following one's musical passions. He 
has long been known for his proficiency on the trumpet, but his mastery 
of the piano is a marvel to which he credits his friend Dizzy 
Gillespie.
  ``My inspiration to play came from Dizzy Gillespie. I remember 
reading in a jazz history book about Miles Davis when he was young 
asking Dizzy for some lessons. Dizzy told him `Sure, let's go hit the 
piano and do some work,` to which Miles replied he didn't play piano. 
Dizzy's answer? `You'd better learn how.` Well I took his advice and 
it's paid off.
  ``I'm a better trumpeter as a result. The piano is the best teaching 
tool for composing, arranging and orchestrating. I wrote my first 
classical concerto for trumpet on the piano.''
  Sandoval is also a tireless music educator, both as a tenured 
Professor at Florida International University and as a visiting guest 
lecturer. Three scholarships are associated with him: the University of 
Idaho's Arturo Sandoval's Dizzy Gillespie Trumpet Scholarship Award, 
Central Oklahoma University's Sandoval Trumpet Scholarship, and FIU's 
Sandoval Trumpet Scholarship, Arturo has lectured at the Conservatoire 
de Paris, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the Soviet Union, the 
University of California in Santa Barbara, the University of Miami, the 
University of Wisconsin, Perdue University, and at many other 
institutions throughout the United States, Europe and Latin America. 
Sandoval has performed as a classical trumpter with the National 
Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toledo Symphony, Detroit Symphony, 
Indianapolis Symphony, Oklahoma Symphony, and Atlanta Symphony, among 
others.
  Mr. Speaker, Arturo Sandoval has established himself one of our 
nation's greatest cultural heroes and ambassadors. Therefore, I urge 
all Members to join me in paying him this well deserved tribute.

                          ____________________