Arturo Sandoval: Medal of Freedom Wednesday; Latin Grammy on Thursday!

LOS ANGELES - Nov. 26, 2013 - PRLog -- Just one day after President Barack Obama placed the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Arturo Sandoval’s neck at the White House on November 20, the jazz trumpeter received a Latin Grammy® for the Best Traditional Tropical Album for his May 2013 release, Un Siglo De Pasión (E35 Music).  Although he was unable to accept the Grammy due to traveling for a performance at the Musa Kawasaki Hall for the Montreux Jazz Festival Kawasaki, he celebrated the Medal of Freedom with three generations of Sandovals in Washington, DC before leaving for Japan.

“I am so grateful to President Obama, the Recording Academy and to my music peers for honoring me with these two fantastic awards,” said Sandoval. “I am truly blessed that people in the United States and around the world enjoy the talent that God has given me and found me deserving of these honors.

“Without freedom, there is no life. I had the distinct honor of having experienced not only liberty, but also a rebirth, the day I landed on US soil, knowing that I was finally free from suffering in a regime which has no respect for human rights.  I love the Medal, but it is the word Freedom that means so much to me.”

In presenting the Medal of Freedom to Sandoval, who was accompanied by his wife, Marianela,  their two sons, Leonel and Tury, their wives and two granddaughters, Paloma and Lola, the President’s introduction read, "As a young man in Cuba, Arturo Sandoval loved jazz so much it landed him in jail.  It was the Cold War and the only radio station where he could hear jazz was the Voice of America, which was dangerous to listen to.  But Arturo listened anyway . . .today Arturo is an American citizen and one of most celebrated trumpet players in the world."

President Obama further won over the Sandoval family by playfully writing and signing a note for Arturo’s younger granddaughter that read: “Please excuse Lola from school – she was with me.”  Sandoval called the warm gesture and the smile on Lola’s face “priceless.”

Sandoval is now a 10-time Grammy® winner, with 19 nominations. He also has received six Billboard Awards and an Emmy for the score of the HBO movie based on his life, For Love or Country, starring Andy Garcia.

The trumpeter’s soon-to-be-released memoir, The Man That Changed My Life, chronicles his relationship with his friend and mentor Dizzy Gillespie. With the help of Gillespie, Arturo and his family made their flight to freedom in 1990. Since then he has recorded 19 albums, including his first, Flight to Freedom, I Remember Clifford, Time for Love and his two most recent Grammy winners, Tango Como Yo Te Siento and Dear Diz: Everyday I Think of You. The current Grammy winner, Un Siglo De Pasión, is a tribute to the Fuentes family, renowned cigar makers.

Celebrating the Christmas season, Arturo has released a new CD, I Want to Wish You A Merry Christmas and his work is featured as the title song for the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, Christmas in Conway, which stars Andy Garcia, Mary-Louise Parker and Mandy Moore. The movie premieres on ABC-TV on Sunday, December 1, 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm.

For more information on Arturo Sandoval and his music, please visit www.arturosandoval.com. To view Arturo’s performance at the Medal of Freedom dinner, including his stunning rendition of God Bless America, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVLjVHBIt_g&sns=tw.