About the Artist

Arturo Sandoval is a Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, timbalero, and composer whose blazing technique and lyricism have made him a modern master. A protégé and close friend of Dizzy Gillespie, he helped found the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna (which became Irakere), later defecting with Gillespie’s help and becoming a U.S. citizen in 1998. He has earned 10 Grammy Awards, an Emmy, the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a 2024 Kennedy Center Honor. His story inspired HBO’s For Love or Country, and Grammy-winning albums such as Hot House and Dear Diz showcase his range from Afro-Cuban jazz to large-ensemble and classical projects.