A blazing, technically flawless trumpeter from Cuba, Arturo Sandoval has been dazzling audiences all over the world with his supercharged tone and bop-flavored flurries. In slower numbers, he sports a golden, mellow tone on the flügelhorn, marked with a sure, subtle sense of swing. Sandoval took up the classical trumpet at 12 and by the early 1970s, he became one of the founding members of the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, which by 1973 had evolved into the Afro-Cuban, rock-influenced band Irakere. Sandoval met his idol Dizzy Gillespie in 1977, who promptly became a mentor and colleague, playing with Sandoval in concerts in Europe and Cuba and later featuring him in the United Nation Orchestra. Sandoval left Irakere 1981 to tour with his own band and record in Cuba. Occasionally, the Castro government would allow Sandoval to appear in various international festivals. Sandoval bided his time until he could get his wife and son out of Cuba, and then in July 1990 during a European tour, he defected at the American Embassy in Rome, settling in Florida. Sandoval's first American album, Flight to Freedom, demonstrated his versatility in several idioms. Hot House followed in 1998, and a year later, he returned with Americana. For 2003's Trumpet Evolution, Sandoval selected material from his favorite horn players. In 2010, Sandoval released a collection of ballads entitled Time for Love. He released Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You) in 2012. Arturo Sandoval continues to tour the globe.