ARTURO SANDOVAL TO HEADLINE OREGON SYMPHONY 'JAZZ WITH JIMMY' MARATHON
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Portland, Ore. … Legendary trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and some of Portland's top jazz artists will join Music Director and Conductor James DePreist for the Oregon Symphony's fourth jazz marathon concert, "Jazz with Jimmy," a four-plus hour-long event culminating in a jam session featuring the Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band Friday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Media support is provided by KMHD and the Jazz Society of Oregon.

The program will open with the Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band, an 18-piece band featuring the "intensely musical" (Los Angeles Times) Jackson on drums performing Mills' arrangements of contemporary and traditional big band songs. Local contemporary-jazz chart-topper, Tom Grant, will then take the stage for a 45-minute set along with Dan Faehnle, "perhaps Oregon's finest jazz guitarist" (Oregon Public Broadcasting). Grant and Faehnle will perform Bossa Nova selections with jazz vocalist Nancy Curtin, Ron Steen (drums) and David Captein (bass). Following the first intermission, DePreist will perform Duke Ellington's "Far East" Suite, "Solitude" and "Sophisticated Lady."

Sandoval and his band will then join DePreist, performing Sandoval's "A mis Abuelos" and "Marianela Says Goodbye." A three-time Grammy winner, Sandoval is renowned for his mixture of jazz, classical, rock and traditional Cuban music and was voted Cuba's Best Instrumentalist from 1982 to 1984. Sandoval and his band will then perform a 50-minute set of selections to be announced from the stage. Following a second intermission, the concert will end with a rousing Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band jam session.

Ticket range from $25 to $87.50 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at 503-228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster On-line, via the Symphony's Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.

Arturo Sandoval

The arrival of celebrated trumpet player Arturo Sandoval has been joyfully applauded throughout the jazz and classical music communities. Granted political asylum in July 1990, Sandoval, his wife and teenage son made their new home in Miami, Fla. A protégé of the legendary Dizzie Gillespie, Sandoval was born in Artemusa, a small town on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, on Nov. 6, 1949, just two years after Gillespie became the first musician to bring Latin influences into American Jazz.

Sandoval began studying classical trumpet at the age of 12, but it didn't take him long to catch the excitement of the jazz world. He has since evolved into one of the world's most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as a renowned classical artist.

Sandoval was a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning group Irakere, whose explosive mixture of jazz, classical, rock and traditional Cuban music caused a sensation throughout the entertainment world. In 1981, he left Irakere to form his own band, which garnered enthusiastic praise from critics and audiences all over Europe and Latin America. Sandoval was voted Cuba's Best Instrumentalist from 1982 to 1984. Arturo Sandoval has had 12 Grammy nominations and has been awarded three.

Before founding Irakere, Sandoval performed with the Cuban Orchestra of Modern Music. He was presented as a guest artist with the BBC symphony in London and the Leningrad Symphony in Russia. Since his defection, Sandoval has increased his classical performances worldwide including performances with the National Symphony, L.A. Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, London Symphony, Oklahoma Symphony, Atlanta Symphony and National Symphony of Washington D.C., among others.

As a professor, Sandoval has lectured internationally and has performed at the Conservatoire de Paris and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the Soviet Union. Currently, he serves with a full professorship at Florida International University and maintains one of the most extensive educational programs in the industry with approximately 50 performances and lectures per year at universities and colleges including UC Davis, UCLA, U.S.C., Univ. of Miami, UC Santa Barbara, etc., and has rendered a considerable amount of time working with the NARAS educational program.

Tom Grant

Tom Grant, master instrumentalist, talented singer and natural entertainer nimbly walks the line between jazz tradition and modern pop. This soft-spoken Oregon native's inspired songwriting produces propulsive R&B grooves, infectious melodic hooks and stylish ballads with equal ease. He plays jazz piano with the harmonic sophistication and deep sense of swing that only comes from more than three decades on the bandstand. At the same time, his recordings have consistently landed at the top of the New Adult Contemporary (NAC)/Smooth Jazz charts, a genre of music Grant helped pioneer in the mid-'80s.

As one of the Pacific Northwest's most renowned musical artist, Grant's career achievements reflect his unique ability to embrace the full spectrum of contemporary music. Born to show-business parents, Grant was at home with many musical instruments, but always returned to the piano. At a tender age, he was taught to play piano and drums by his tap dancer father. Later, he learned about music styles listening to music at his father's record store in Portland, Ore. His brother, an avant-garde jazz pianist, introduced him to the many different facets of jazz music. After graduating from the University of Oregon and a short stint as a high school teacher, Grant answered his musical calling. Native American saxophonist Jim Pepper took Grant to New York in 1970 to record the chant classic "Witchi-tai-to."

After that, he toured and recorded with such jazz greats as Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, Charles Lloyd and Tony Williams. Since 1983, Grant's records have repeatedly topped the NAC/Smooth Jazz charts. Several, including the popular "Mango Tango," "Night Charade," "In My Wildest Dreams," and "The View from Here," enjoyed lengthy stays at Number One. "In My Wildest Dreams" and "The View from Here" also made the Top Five on the Billboard Charts. Grant's music has graced many television shows and commercials, radio shows and movie scores, including a musical guest appearance on The Tonight Show.

His records have also been a staple of the Quiet Storm radio format for almost two decades. In 1997, Grant was accorded the prestigious status of Steinway Artist. The first non-classical Steinway artist in the Pacific Northwest, he joins the ranks of legendary pianists from Vladimir Horowitz to Keith Jarrett. Grant has been involved in many different charity events nationwide during the past three decades, and continues to donate his time and talent to worthy causes. Grant was recently accorded the great honor of having a scholarship fund established in his name by the United Negro College Fund. Grant was also recently awarded the much coveted 1999 Humanitarian Award for Dedication to Music, Health and Children by the New York Presbyterian Hospital/Cornell Medical Center.

Grant signed with the world-renowned label Windham Hill Records in 1998 and has appeared on several of its popular samplers. Grant's first Windham Hill CD, "Tune It In" was released on April 4, 2000, and its smooth blend of classic and contemporary jazz grooves is enjoying heavy airplay on urban and NAC/Smooth Jazz radio stations nationwide. Tom has had his own weekly radio show on Portland's KJazz 106.7. The Tom Grant Radio Show has enjoyed a nearly 3 year run and will soon go into syndication. Tom's mellifluous voice and intriguing interviews have made this show a well-loved staple with jazz fans and listeners throughout the area.

Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band

The Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills (cj/dm) Big Band is an exciting collective of some of the finest professional instrumental talent performing in the Portland area. The full, rich sound of this 18-piece band is realized by traditional and contemporary Big Band writing, including the engaging arrangements of Dave Mills and the driving, incisive drumming of Carlton Jackson. Mills and Jackson met while members of Thara Memory's Creative Jazz Orchestra, Carl Smith's Natural Gas Company, George Reinmiller's Super Big Band and The Woody Hite Big Band.

In 1993, the cj/dm Big Band had its triumphant genesis at the Mt. Hood Festival of Jazz, with vocalist and blues stylist Curtis Salgado leading the band. The group also has performed at the Taste of Beaverton and the Portland Rose Festival with blues/soul diva Linda Hornbuckle. A concert with popular jazz pianist/vocalist Tom Grant, a featured role in the 1998 Oregon Symphony "Jazz with Jimmy and Friends" concert, a performance at the gala re-opening of the Crystal Ballroom, plus engagements at the Oregon State Fair and the Waterfront Blues Festival are under the band's collective performance belt.

The cj/dm Big Band is comprised of some trumpet soloist Paul Mazzio, alto saxist Warren Rand, tenor sax standouts Jeff Homan and Lee Wuthenow, versatile guitarist Don Jansen, trombone soloist Tom Hill and lead trumpet Richard Cooper.

Carlton's well-documented work with pianists Tom Grant and Dan Siegel, guitarists Dan Balmer and Terry Robb, bassist Leroy Vinnegar, blues singer Curtis Salgado, composer Jon Newton and others has solidified his status as an engaging, versatile performer. Others in the diverse musical community continue to engage him to bring some of his distinctive style to their musical endeavors. He has performed on feature films, television, and radio commercials.

Dave Mills, currently co-leader and arranger for the Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band, has written many scores for jazz ensemble, symphonic band, and orchestra. He studied music composition with Larry McVey at Mt. Hood Community College, Ladd Macintosh at Westminster College, and string orchestration with Tomas Svoboda at Portland State University. His music is now played by many types of ensembles nationwide as well as in Europe. Several of his vocal arrangements were performed by Curtis Salgado, Linda Hornbuckle, Lloyd Jones, Terry Robb, and Peter Dammann with the Carlton Jackson/Dave Mills Big Band at the Tenth Annual Waterfront Blues Festival.

Dave Mills also travels as a guest conductor and composer in the Pacific Northwest and abroad and is a published writer with the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Press.