Arturo Sandoval’s story is legendary — and it bears repeating.
It's a story often told as a triumph of talent: the prodigy from Cuba, the protégé of Dizzy Gillespie, the trumpet virtuoso who went on to win Grammy's, Emmys, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
But beneath that familiar arc is a more precarious and human journey. Sandoval’s escape from Cuba to the United States was harrowing and cinematic. So much so, in fact, that it became a movie in 2000 — For Love or Country — with Andy Garcia portraying Sandoval on screen.
It’s also a story about continuity and generosity among musicians — about how jazz has a way of recognizing its own, no matter where they come from. In Sandoval’s case, Dizzy Gillespie was crucial not only in helping him reach the United States, but in helping him see his value beyond the borders of Cuba.
“That trumpet that you play,” Dizzy once told him, “it doesn’t belong only to Cuba. It belongs to the whole world.”
By the time he immigrated, Sandoval had already established himself as a creative and technical force. Dizzy first discovered him through Irakere, the groundbreaking group Sandoval co-founded, which helped redefine Afro-Cuban jazz.
But for Sandoval, the past is always just prologue. “Whatever happened in the past, it's gone, it's history, we have no control,” he told me. "It's in the hands of God. If you want to see God laughing very hard, tell him about your plans."
That outlook is especially true when it comes to leaving Cuba.
“I always say that I was reborn when I was 40 years old,” he said. “When we got to the U.S. There, a life starts.”
Now, 36 years later, Sandoval remains deeply grateful — and fiercely clear-eyed — about the difference between life under dictatorship and life in a free society.
“I know because I suffered in my blood and flesh,” he said. “I learned very well the huge difference between freedom and no freedom.”
That clarity shapes how he understands success, music, and even the idea of talent itself.
“God gave to every person a little bit of talent,” he said. “But the bottom line is what you do with that talent.”
What matters far more, in his view, is perseverance, desire, and the willingness to work.
“I consider a lot more important your passion, your commitment, your discipline, and your desire to learn,” he told me.
At a moment when America continues to reckon with its long and complicated conversation around immigration, and with the richness of its cultural fabric, Sandoval’s story is a reminder that many of the most enduring American stories are shaped by migration itself, by people who arrive carrying both risk and possibility.
When Arturo Sandoval lifts the trumpet to his mouth, the fullness of that history is there — not spoken, but unmistakably present.
He brings his group to 92NY on February 4, for what promises to be an unforgettable night of music.
You can SEE Leo Sidran's entire interview with Arturo Sandoval below:
