ARTURO SANDOVAL in concert, Jazz at the Sheraton, Monday, Dec. 4, one night only.

When legendary jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval played at the Jazz at the Sheraton concert on Monday, he didn't receive a polite standing ovation after the concert — he received one before he even played a note.

A very appreciative audience welcomed this giant of jazz with well-deserved enthusiasm, and Sandoval may have surpassed their expectations before the night was through.

Sandoval (with his sextet) played a variety of music throughout the evening, ranging from some pretty progressive jazz to a couple of rather tame numbers he had written for a recent made-for-cable film.

Interestingly, the two most predominant influences in his music reflected the two most predominant influences in his life: his friendship with Dizzy Gillespie and his Cuban origin. Although he touched on a wide range of styles, the majority of his sets featured Cuban/Latin rhythms, and bebop style and phrasing (reminiscent of Gillespie) flavored a lot of the music.

The Latin sets were incredible. With congo drums, a trap set and a percussion set, not to mention rhythmic complexities of the pitched instruments, the layers of rhythm went wild — and the saucy melodic interplay made it all the more fun.

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Sandoval had fun going from one instrument to another — first he'd play the trumpet, then piano, then keyboard, then percussion, then he'd do vocals. When it comes to raw talent, this guy's got it in exponential figures. Of course, his singing wasn't quite at the level of the other instruments, but it was too much fun to complain about. As far as trumpet ability goes — he possibly has the best chops in the business.

The synthesized strings could have been left out of a couple of numbers, though — especially the two pieces written for the HBO movie "For Love or Country." The live instruments were so good that the artificial-sounding strings really detracted from the energy of the live players.

Sandoval wasn't alone in excellent musicmaking; he was backed up by a great band, notably Charles McNeill on saxophone and Samuel Torres on percussion.


E-mail: rcline@desnews.com

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