I had the pleasure of hearing the legendary Arturo Sandoval perform a few days ago. It was a performance like I had never seen before. Arturo was born in Cuba, and started studying the trumpet at the age of 12. He is the protege of Dizzy Gillespie, and when you listen to his music, you can hear the Gillespie influence. It didn’t take long for Sandoval to grasp the reigns of the world of jazz. He does it all. Not only did he master the trumpet, but he is also a classical pianist, and composer. Adding to his list of accomplishments, Arturo was nominated 17 times for a Grammy, and has won 9. To add to that collection, he has an Emmy, and 6 Billboard Awards. Sandoval is still making amazing music, and performing while also writing a book to be released soon titled “The Man Who Saved Me.” It is a book about the relationship he shared with Dizzy Gillespie.

My experience while listening, and observing Arturo perform was breathtaking. I don’t even think that’s descriptive enough to portray my feelings. His voice is an instrument, and he know how to use it like one. He doesn’t fail to miss a single note on the music scale. Amazing!! I enjoyed his ability to be extremely diverse in his performance. Unlike any other artist I’ve ever seen. He sang, he played the trumpet, he played keyboards, and he played percussion. It was electrifying to watch him on stage with non-stop, unwavering energy from start to finish. Each of his band members were equally as awesome in their individual solos. Did I mention that Sandoval even scatted during a song? That was one of those “WOW” moments for me. I was blown away. I thought to myself, what else can he do? Well, he showed me what else he could do. While performing a single song, he went from playing the trumpet, to the keyboard, to percussion, to singing. He just went back and forth from one to the other. I was mesmerized. I left Arturo Sandoval’s performance knowing that I had been in the company of one of the best artist ever.

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