[Dixielandjazz] Sandoval

[Steve Barbone]

Interesting personal reactions about Sandoval's demeanor and ability.

I personally heard him live twice, both times from about the 6th row, with
those big speakers and all.

Loved the show, got used to the sound. Saw him a few days after 9/11 at West
Chester University's Concert Hall. As he ended the program, people got up to
leave. He stopped them with:

"Folks, don't leave yet, we have one more number. You know I wasn't born
here. I came to this country with the help of Dizzy Gillespie many years
ago. I chose to live here because of the freedom and opportunity that exists
here. I appreciate it, and I want to say a personal thank you to America for
what it represents."

With that, he turned a music stand around and there was a folded up American
Flag, which unfurled from it.

He then started to play "America The Beautiful" softly in the very low
register of his flugelhorn. Finished the first chorus and shifted to trumpet
for a louder middle register chorus. Then to high register chorus. He ended
up, very loud in the super high register, and just blew the audience away.

Not a dry eye in the house. Huge, prolonged, standing ovation from 1200 or
so who were present in the audience.

Saw him again a few years later at the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in
Wilmington, DE. We were both playing there and he stopped by to hear Barbone
Street and Preservation Hall play back to back sets. Once again, he was
charming, very nice to Martha and me, and was delighted to meet our bassist
Ace Tesone who recorded with Brownie in 1956. We all chatted about Brownie
for about 20 minutes.  The following night, when Sandoval played his tribute
to Clifford Brown, (a man he greatly admired) it was incredible.

So, whenever I hear someone talk about a negative experience with him, I
feel sorry that they did not see him on those nights. He played superbly. He
swung his ass off. His band was superb. They swung their asses off. He
played mostly trumpet and all its variations while also playing piano and
drums. He was charming when we met backstage and chatted a while.

Bad performance somewhere? Hey, it happens to all of us, (sometimes with
reason) so why not cut the guy (and all performers) a break. Appreciate him
for what he is . . . a superb trumpet player, one of the best in the world,
who does a lot a great things for a lot of people, with all of his teaching
projects in Florida. As he says:

. . . My philosophy has always been that I love music. Period. I don't want
to be remembered as a jazz trumpeter. I'd like to be remembered as a man who
loved music. Because I like to play piano, I like to compose. I like to do
all those things as much as I like to play the trumpet."

In case left coasters missed him at the San Francisco Jazz Festival last
October, he'll be in Ventura CA on Feb 17. Hear his genius for yourselves.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone