For Love or Country - The Arturo Sandoval Story

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to our little show

Tonight, we got ourselves a bona fide multiplicicitous conglomeration

of Cubanos on this here stage tonight

We got Paquito D'Rivera!

We got lgnacio Berroa!

And we got my newest Cuban son

...Arturo Sandoval

Here by special permission of the Cuban Government

I'd like to say something

Ever since I was a little boy and uh, since the first time I heard his music

I had a dream to be able to play with maestro Dizzy Gillespie

So to me right now, life is truly a dream

- Mari, Mari, it's me, Arturo - Arturo, where are you?

- I'm in Athens, are you okay?. - Yes

Listen, Mari, you're in London, this is it

We're halfway there, it's all arranged

- Tonight?. - I will be in ltaly tomorrow

- Be careful - I'll call you when I get there

Paquito, make sure none of that feta cheese, got that?. Un-feta

Yeah, Dizzy

Don't go away, cete thelo

Arturo, what's going on?.

Quickly... give me a cigarette

My wife and son are in London

- They're where?. - We're not going back

- Ono... - Paquito, it's not done yet

It's okay, don't worry, we'll get you out

Arturo, man, let's go, I called the Embassy, they're expecting us

- What's the matter?. - I've still got family there, Diz

When you leave the government, they punish the people that you leave behind

- The people you love - Well are you sure you wanna do this?.

I've been in jail all my life

You know, freedom's a scary thing, but l-I gotta do it, man, I gotta get on the bird

Well, come on, let's do it then

- The Embassy is closed, sir - You better get it open

We got ourselves an lnternational incident, my Cuban friend here...

Sir, the Embassy is closed

Not for me it ain't, I'm Dizzy Gillespie

- Open the gate, Sergeant - Yes, sir

It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Gillespie, we got your call

- You must be Arturo Sandoval - Yeah

That's the second greatest trumpet player in the world

Someone should be... ah, there you are

Good evening, gentlemen, or I should say, good morning

I'm Michael Tasker, I'm a big fan, Mr. Gillespie

Thank you, this is my man, Arturo Sandoval

Arturo Sandoval, yes, petition for asylum

- Yes - Look, how long's this gonna take?.

Well, red tape respects no boundaries, Mr. Gillespie, that's an international fact of life

- If you'd like to wait... - This is the American Embassy

I know you got some apple pie around here

I think we can arrange something

- Now you be cool - Okay, thank you, Diz

- Enjoy, right this way - Yes

You're Mr. Gillespie is one of the few people who can open this place in the middle of the night

- Have a seat and I'll be back in a moment?. - Yes, thank you

- Coffee?. - Uh, thank you, yes

I'm scared

Trust me

Mr. Sandoval, I think I should explain, there are certain criteria that must be met

before we can grant asylum

An individual must prove that he is unable to return to his homeland for fear of persecution

Yes, I understand, that's why I'm here

Now, you've been touring with Mr. Gillespie's United Nation Band

Are you here with your family?.

No, no, my wife and son, they're waiting for me in London

- You're seeking asylum for them as well?. - Yes

- Is there a problem?. - I ju-I just need some information

Okay, uh, so, you've been a musician for how many years?.

Since I was... six years old

I taught my cat how to walk on a tightrope while I played the bongos

It was like an animal act

And you were educated at a government-run music school?.

Yes

- So you were classically trained - Yes

Now, it says here, it says you were a member of the Cuban Music Academy

- Is that right?. - Yes

- Is that a state-sponsored organization?. - Yes

And your first professional job... what is that?. Orchestra Cu...

Cuban Modern Music Orchestra

- Government sponsored?. - Yes, of course

If the government doesn't sponsor it, it doesn't exist

Yeah, well maybe I'm missing something here, because you see it seems that on paper

that the government treated you quite well, they certainly supported you as a musician

Yes, yes

Yes, as long as I did what they wanted

That's the shit, that's the shit there

- That's what we should be playing - I know!

Start a band and get on the bird and fly!

- Hey, Arturo - You haven't changed

- What for?. - You look good

Very handsome... even without you hair, very very nice

So Jaime, What's this about?. What's going on?.

Nothing, just come, come on in, come in guys, relax, please, sit down

Here, don't burn my couch

Jaime, why are we here?. What is this meeting about?.

Simply, companero Somavilla brought a matter to my attention

Well, I just mentioned to Jaime, that you want to start your own band

Your own band, it's a good idea

It's a shame you just can't do it

Caballeros, I am an artist just like you are

I understand the need to invoke the muse

But as Cubans we have to present a united front

Politically and musically and destroying the Orchestra is not in our interests right now

No, no, no, no, no, no, we do not want to destroy anything, okay?.

No, just the best band in Cuba, that's all

There's plenty of room for another great band in Cuba

Arturo, normally I would agree with you, but we're living in times of scarcity now

Exactly, besides, I just can't see why you can't play what you want in the Orchestra

In the Orchestra we play what you want us to play!

We need to experiment

No, you don't want to experiment, you just don't want to play our music

You want to play their music! The music of the enemy

What is the music of the enemy?. What does that mean?.!

That's enough

Our comrades are losing their lives in Angola now

You guys are thinking about your little music, just about yourselves?.

There's no time for that, there are limits! Bien?. There are limits!

Ramon, Ramon, leave the cowboys alone

- I never saw that picture before - I don't care, this is dominos

- Okay, okay - Pay attention to the game

Cirita, one more coffee, please

- Wait, wait, wait, it's not your turn - Okay, I'll make some more

Cirita, your coffee is like a wake-up kiss in the morning

Cirita bonita, tan bella y sabrosita

Gracias

It's like the fourth time through on these grounds

Yeah

You boys want to play?.

Maybe later, Papi

The band... Iisten, Arturo, this is going nowhere

You heard Jaime, they'll pull us out of venues, they pull the equipment

No, they won't ever do it

We'll be so good they'll have to support us

How are you gonna get'em to support a jazz band?.

Never call it jazz, don't ever even use the word

They'll know, they'll hear it

Paquito, these guys, they're not musicians, they're bureaucrats

You're Cuban, I'm Cuban, Chucho's Cuban... whatever we play is gonna be Cuban music

We'll need some kind of camouflage, you know?.

- Congas - Yeah, big ones

- Up front - Up front!

We called ourselves "lrakere", it's an African word meaning "jungle"

And we played jazz, but we gave it, you know, our own swing...

Wait a minute, wait a minute, excuse me, but they didn't stop you....

and this band was a success

Yes, the camouflage we had worked

I mean, you toured extensively, you-you did a record for CBS

You even won a Grammy

And-and it seems like the government didn't really care what you were playing

Well, you know, they chose not to notice because we were making a lot of money for them

Well, I imagine you were making some money for yourself as well

It doesn't work that way

The clubs, they pay the Ministry of Culture directly, all we got was meal money

So you know you can make a lot more money if you weren't in Cuba

It's not about the money, it's about the music

Well, they let you play the kind of music that you wanted

American jazz and Gershwin and Ellington...

But we're always taking a risk because in Cuba you never know where the line is

You can play Gershwin once too often

Not being able to play Gershwin does not constitute persecution

It is if someone decides that it's counter revolutionary and they come and put you in jail

because in Cuba, you live with that fear every day

That someone might come to you, to your house, to your family and hurt you because of a song

Just a song, and that is persecution

Well, if you felt that strongly about it, why didn't you defect earlier?.

I was about to, in my mind I had it all planned out

But you stayed

Come on, let's go!

Life has it's own plan

Come on, let's go! Come on! Come on, let's go!

I'm here, let's go! The bus is coming! Come on!

What are you waiting for?. What are you waiting for?.

If you don't get this one there won't be another bus for hours

- l-I'm with him - Come on!

I've been here all along, right here, she's with me

She's the love of my life

By the way, what's your name?.

Marianela, Marianela... Mariane-ela

When she walks, all the buses they have to stop

And when she laughs... she has to cry

What's wrong?.

My mother just died, a week ago

I'm sorry

Did your mother have something against laughing?.

- Where you going?. - This is my stop

- Really?. Mine, too - What a coincidence

- I wanna see you before I go - What's the point if you are leaving?.

Why does there have to be a point?.

- When does your tour finish?. - It's in a month, let's have dinner

- I'll see you when you get back - No, that's too long

I need to see you before I go

- What's the hurry?. - Well, I'm afraid you might forget me

That's very unlikely

Excuse me, do you work here at the F]oreign Trade Ministry?.

Si, don't tell me that you work here as well

No, no, I don't think so

- Is there a problem?. - No, no, no problem, no problem

Marianela, Marianela... Mariane-la

I'm gonna see you before I go!