by the El Reportero’s news services
Arturo SandovalCuban-American trumpet player Arturo Sandoval entered ASCAP’s Jazz Wall of Fame in a year the musician will never forget – he had already received the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama and had won his ninth Grammy Award.
“It’s been a beautiful year with so many exceptional things going on,” Sandoval told Efe.
The musician said he wanted to thank God for the many extraordinary moments in his life, like the day he met his wife, with whom he has been married for 40 years, and when the first of his children was born and when his granddaughters were born.
“I believe every year is good,” the artist, who has lived for the past four years in Los Angeles after living 20 years in Miami, said.
The year 2013 is now added to the unforgettable times in the life of the musician, composer and orchestra conductor, who last Nov. 20 received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his cultural contributions, “an enormously important prize, an enormous satisfaction,” together with group of other distinguished Americans from other fields.
Last Friday the Cuban’s music was heard at the lighting of the Christmas tree at the White House, and on Sunday he played the U.S. national anthem at an event in Kennedy Center while still buoyed by his latest Grammy Award. On Monday he was recognized as one of the legends of jazz by ASCAP at an event in the organization’s headquarters, just a short walk away from Manhattan’s famous Lincoln Center.
The musician, who came to the United States in 1990 at age 41, could not have been more pleased at the honor and told Efe that the public generally associates him with the trumpet, “but I spend much more time at the piano composing that I do playing the trumpet, yet rarely does the composer get a mention.”
Thalia celebrates her star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Thalia became the first Mexican-born singer to be awarded one of the iconic stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which was unveiled at a crowded ceremony during which the artist emotionally recalled her mother, who died in 2011.
To cries of “Thalia, Thalia!” hundreds of excited fans greeted Thursday the vocalist of “Amor a la Mexicana,” as she arrived together with her husband, record executive Tommy Mottola, at the famous Hollywood thoroughfare, visibly excited by the honor that fulfilled one of her childhood dreams.
Thalia posed standing, sitting, lying down, front and back, and even with the flag of her country, beside the five-pointed terrazzo and brass star that now bears her name and which, she believes, also honors “all those women who work and struggle every day to maintain their families and arrive home smiling.”
“This is the star of the Latino woman,” said the singer, who during her career of almost 30 years has sold more than 40 million discs.
Bands pay tribute to Jenni Rivera at location of her last show
A dozen musical groups are offering a big concert in the Arena Monterrey to pay tribute to singer Jenni Rivera, who died a year ago in a plane crash after performing in the same venue.
Organized by her family, the Jenni Lives event featured Marisela, La Original Banda El Limon, Larry Hernandez, Chuy Lizarraga, Los Herederos de Nuevo Leon and Tito El Bambino, among other artists.
Fans from across northern Mexico and from north of the border made long lines starting early on Monday to enter the free event.
People attending the concert carried signs, photos and other items pertaining to the California-born singer who died at the age of 43 when her plane went down on Dec. 9, 2012.
Also killed in the accident were Rivera’s publicist, her make-up artist, her stylist, her attorney and the two pilots of the plane in which the group was traveling after the concert in the northern city of Monterrey.
Rivera, who left behind five children and two grandchildren, was considered one of the most important female artists of Mexican regional music since she made her debut in 1999 with the album “Reina de reins.
