Sangú Album Bio
ARTURO SANDOVAL – SANGÚ
With SANGÚ, Arturo Sandoval enters a bold and deeply personal new chapter: one that does not look
backward in nostalgia, but reaches forward by going deeper into the source. This album is not
simply a return to Afro-Cuban rhythm, nor is it merely a continuation of Sandoval’s extraordinary
legacy. It is a living statement of artistic freedom, ancestry, groove, family, and invention from
one of the most accomplished musicians of our time.
A 2024 Kennedy Center Honoree, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, ten-time GRAMMY Award
winner, GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Emmy Award-winning composer, and protégé of
the legendary Dizzy Gillespie, Sandoval has spent a lifetime redefining what is possible on the
trumpet and far beyond it. Across decades, he has moved effortlessly through jazz, Afro-Cuban
music, classical repertoire, film composition, and big band writing with a virtuosity so commanding
that it has often seemed to belong to another realm. But SANGÚ reveals something even rarer than
mastery: essence.
This is Sandoval at his most rooted, most expressive, and most fearless.
Born from an intimate, family-driven creative process, SANGÚ was shaped at home and built from
trust, play, and deep musical kinship. Created in complete collaboration with his son Arturo “Tury”
Sandoval III and daughter-in-law/Manager Melody Lisman, the album opened a new space in Sandoval’s
life and work, one where generations could meet not only in love, but in artistic dialogue.
Together, they set out to create a record that could carry Arturo’s sound into the future while
honoring the elemental forces that shaped him: Afro-Cuban percussion, Yoruba spiritual memory,
Cuban phrasing, bebop fire, funk, folklore, and the electrifying spirit of risk.
The result is a record that feels both ancestral and strikingly modern.
The DNA of SANGÚ reaches back to the revolutionary spirit that animated Irakere, the groundbreaking
group Sandoval co-founded in Cuba with Chucho Valdés and Paquito D’Rivera. Like that earlier era,
SANGÚ is driven by fearless fusion, but it is not a recreation. It is a fresh, contemporary work
that distills decades of experience into something leaner, freer, and more intimate. Batá-inspired
rhythms, congas, bells, güiro, brass choirs, montuno language, jazz harmony, and funk propulsion
coexist here with complete naturalness, not as genre exercises, but as the sound of an artist fully
inhabiting his own language.
Sangú Album Bio
Throughout the album, Sandoval sounds gloriously unbound. On explosive tracks like “Scat,” he
captures on record, for the first time, a facet of his live artistry audiences have cherished for
years: his playful, virtuosic scat singing, where voice and trumpet chase each other with wit,
daring, and pure rhythmic joy. On “Red Trumpet,” he reveals the opposite power: restraint,
patience, lyricism, and emotional depth, letting beauty unfold one note at a time. On “Babalu Ayé,”
the album touches spiritual ground, honoring devotion, healing, and Sandoval’s profound connection
to San Lázaro. In the title track, “Sangú,” the entire vision converges: Afro-Cuban percussion at
the center, bebop bite in the horns, Cuban melodic vocabulary in the phrasing, and a groove that
feels both ritualistic and urgent. Across the record, tracks such as “El Río Suena,” “Azulito,”
“With The People,” “Panza,” “La Ventura,” “Days in the Sun,” “New Paradise,” and “Rolling Hills”
reveal an artist still discovering, still surprising, and still expanding the reach of his sound.
What makes SANGÚ especially powerful is that none of this feels imposed. The album breathes with
the authority of lived experience. The Afro-Cuban pulse is not an aesthetic choice for Sandoval; it
is inheritance. The jazz language is not borrowed vocabulary; it is part of the voice he fought to
claim. The sense of freedom coursing through the album is inseparable from his life story: from a
boy in Artemisa drumming on tabletops, to a young musician secretly studying bebop in Cuba, to an
architect of modern Afro-Cuban jazz, to an exile who transformed freedom into sound.
That full journey is present in SANGÚ, but distilled into music that feels immediate, joyful, and
alive now.
The album also stands as a testament to extraordinary belief and patronage. From the earliest
stages of its creation, SANGÚ was recognized and nurtured by Daisuke Oda and Darren Romanelli,
whose creative spirit, vision, and unwavering support helped make the project possible. Through
Magic House in Tokyo, they did more than support an album; they helped protect and champion a work
of deep artistic and cultural significance. Their role in the life of SANGÚ reflects the highest
form of patronage: not simply helping to fund a project, but recognizing something rare in it,
creating the conditions for it to flourish, and honoring its spirit from the beginning. As
visionary cultural supporters and early champions of this music, Magic House and its founders are
woven into the story of SANGÚ in a lasting and meaningful way.
Sangú Album Bio
Created in collaboration by Arturo Sandoval, Arturo “Tury” Sandoval III, and Melody Lisman, and
brought to life by a remarkable ensemble of musicians, SANGÚ is both a family creation and a major
artistic statement. It captures the force of a living legend not in repose, but in motion –
searching, inventing, laughing, remembering, and pushing forward.
For all of Arturo Sandoval’s accolades, SANGÚ reminds us that the deepest measure of an artist is
not what he has already achieved, but what he still has to say.
And here, he says it with full force.
SANGÚ is Arturo Sandoval at his most deeply rooted and fully alive: a vibrant, electrifying work
where ancestral spirit, raw groove, masterful improvisation, and hard-won freedom collide. Timeless
yet unmistakably contemporary, it stands as one of the most personal and compelling statements of
his career. A radiant new chapter from a
master who continues not only to honor history, but to make it.
The Sangú Era
To experience Arturo Sandoval live is to witness a master not revisiting history, but actively creating it in real time.
Fresh from extraordinary international recognition and propelled by the explosive new material from his upcoming album Sangú, Sandoval has entered a bold new performance era. The current touring configuration features an expanded ensemble with added brass power and deeper rhythmic architecture, creating a sound that is larger, more cinematic, and more commanding than ever before.
This is not a legacy presentation. It is evolution in motion.
Sangú draws from Afro-Cuban roots, deep jazz tradition, global grooves, and modern textures, and on stage it ignites. Hypnotic rhythmic builds swell into soaring trumpet lines that seem to defy physics. The expanded brass section adds weight and brilliance, while the rhythm section drives with authority and precision. The result is immersive, visceral, and unforgettable.
And then, just when the intensity feels unstoppable, Arturo pivots. He moves to flugelhorn for a lush and lyrical ballad. He sits at the piano and improvises with tenderness and sophistication. He shifts to percussion and ignites the room again. His humor and warmth disarm the audience, creating an atmosphere that feels both grand and deeply personal.
What makes a Sandoval concert extraordinary is the totality of the experience. In a single evening audiences travel from blistering Afro-Cuban jazz to breathtaking high register trumpet passages, from cinematic compositions to intimate moments of pure musical vulnerability. Every performance unfolds like a dramatic narrative, with sweeping arcs, unexpected turns, explosive climaxes, and moments of stillness that hold the room in silence.
Audiences rise to their feet. Venues report overwhelming enthusiasm. Presenters witness a rare phenomenon: a globally honored icon performing at full creative strength, expanding his sound rather than resting on reputation.
International demand continues to grow and routing is filling strategically.
Booking Arturo Sandoval now is not simply securing a jazz performance. It is presenting a world class musical event led by one of the most dynamic and celebrated artists of our time.
An unforgettable night. A living legend in full flight.
Arturo has performed with the foremost orchestras in the country as well as abroad and recorded John Williams’ Trumpet Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra. His classical artistry has earned him the respect and admiration from the most prestigious conductors, composers, and symphony orchestras worldwide. A few of these include:
NEW RELEASE! Single “Scat” out now!!
Listen now on Spotify.
