PURE ENERGY

Arturo Sandoval to light up the stage in the finale of the inaugural Williamstown Jazz Festival

By Jaclynn Kastrinakis

Photos by Joseph Grays Photography, Courtesy of Arturo Sandoval

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Sixty-five years into a career, Arturo Sandoval has earned ten Grammy® Awards as well as a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Widely considered one of the greatest and most technically accomplished trumpet players in the world, the Cuban-born trumpeter, pianist, and composer brings his legacy to Western Massachusetts. Sandoval will close out the Williamtown Jazz Festival (jazzintheberkshires.org) on Sunday, September 13, by performing to an audience that includes the region's next generation of young musicians.

Williamstown is a long, long way from where Sandoval started. Sandoval grew up in a small village in rural Cuba before jazz reshaped his life and brought him to the United States. Along the way, one strong relationship shaped his career: his mentorship with jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie.

Leading up to the Arturo Sandoval Nonet performing in Williamstown, Berkshire Magazine spoke with the bandleader.

Arturo, you describe Dizzy Gillespie as your mentor and “spiritual father.” What is the most important lesson he taught you that you still carry today?

I met him in Havana, Cuba in May of ’77, many years ago. When he came back to New York, he started to talk about that band he listened to in Cuba—my band. A few months later, the president of CBS Record came to Havana himself. They listened to my band and signed us for three years. The next month, he brought us to New York and we played at Carnegie Hall for the very first time ever in the U.S. CBS made a recording of that live concert, and that became our first Grammy®. Everything happened because of Maestro Gillespie.

His name was really John Burkes Gillespie, and Dizzy was like a nickname. I never called him Dizzy, though, because he was anything but Dizzy. He was extremely smart; he was a genius—a creator of one of the most intricate and profound music styles ever, which is bebop. He's the father of Bebop. The best lesson and the best example that I got from him was his love and enthusiasm for music.

The joy he got every time he jumped to the stage to share music with the people was the best lesson, you know? Being in love with music is a gift from God, and when you love what you do, oh my goodness, your life is incredible! The old saying in my home country was

“Be sure you study what you love, and you'll never have to work.” The saying is so good that we don't call what we do “work.” No. I'm going to play. It's a completely different thing when you go to play; you go to enjoy 100 percent of what you do—and that's a gift. We are blessed.

How did Gillespie’s influences show in the music you perform?

You know, I listen to everything and everybody. When I started playing music, I started with traditional Cuban music only until I got into the National Conservatory of Music. I was there for two years playing strictly classical music, and then, later on, jazz. Somebody played me a jazz album and asked me, “Have you ever heard of jazz music?”

I say, “What is that?” Then he played the vinyl version of Maestro Gillespie and Charlie Parker, and I couldn't believe it. I said, “What is that?”

He said, “Jazz.” When I discovered jazz, that changed my way of thinking, my way of practicing. I am still in the process of figuring out how to get better at jazz, because the day you believe that you know everything, you become a perfect stupid idiot.

We always have to be hungry for new information and to learn new things. I listen to all kinds of music, for example; one of my favorite composers ever is Sergei Rachmaninoff. And for me, the most beautiful piece of music ever written was Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2. Wow! This is probably my favorite piece of music ever. As I said, I was born in Cuba so I grew up playing traditional Cuban music, but music is the only international language, you know? The only thing you need to learn music is to pay attention, open your ears, close your mouth, and let the music penetrate through your ears, to your brain, and to your heart and soul.

At this stage of your life, holding ten Grammy® Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, what is currently driving your musical curiosity when you sit down to compose new material?

The music is my inspiration and is my bond that cures my spirit. I owe everything to music because I came from a small little village in the middle of nowhere of the island of Cuba, and music saved my life. Music gave me so many opportunities and so many beautiful experiences over the years that my words are not enough to recognize and show my gratitude to the life that God gave me and my family.

As the headliner closing out the very first Williamstown Jazz Festival, what

kind of energy or musical message do you feel is most important to bring to a

new festival audience?

We're gonna give them our best. The only thing I can promise you is, I am so proud and grateful to have all the members of the band. They are really great musicians with such dedication and professionalism. I'm going to tell you, every time we have a chance to play, it's a party for us.

We're going to try to share that 100 percent with the audience. But it's up to them on how they react. Because, you know, the most important thing in jazz music is improvisation.

It's something you have, but you need to have a little knowledge of what improvisation means within jazz music. If you have any idea or you understand what's going on on the stage, you're going to appreciate jazz a lot more. If you’ve never heard this kind of music, you're probably going to say, “What’s that? What are they doing”? But we're gonna make 100 percent our effort to give everything we got.

Local music students and young musicians from across Berkshire County will be watching you perform. What is your message to the young people in this community who are trying to find their own creative voice?

It all depends on their profession and different ideas of what they want to do in life.

Music is always gonna be good for the spirit, for the soul, and for the heart. And even if they want to be a professional musician, the only thing you need is to keep your passion, your dedication, your discipline alive. And you have to feel like you are in the beginning of your career all the time. I played my first gig in 1961, which means I’ve been playing music for 65 years. Do you know what I am going to do as soon as we finish this interview? I’ve got my horn here, and I am going to start practicing right away. At 77 years old, sometimes I believe I practice more now than when I was 25 years old.

If you want to be a good musician, you can be a good musician. It's up to you. It’s how much passion you show, especially your dedication and your discipline. Concentrate on the things that are gonna fill your spirit with incredible experiences throughout your life.

Arturo Sandoval performs on Sunday evening at 8, headlining the third and final day of the Williamstown Jazz Festival. For more information about the festival and to buy tickets, go to jazzintheberkshires.org.