Arturo Sandoval, Apollo Theater Among Kennedy Center Honors

By Michael J. West I Dec. 12, 2024

Queen Latifah extols Harlem and the Apollo Theater at this year’s Kennedy Center Honors.
(Photo: Joy Asico-Smith/CBS ©2024)
Kamasi Washington with wife Ami Taf Ra. The saxophonist is the Kennedy Center’s current Master Artist in Residence.
(Photo: Tracey Salazar)

Cuban-American jazz trumpet legend Arturo Sandoval and Harlem’s Apollo Theater were among the honorees at the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors, presented Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C., and recorded for television broadcast later this month.

The ceremony, held at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, was attended by President and Mrs. Biden, Vice President Harris and Doug Emhoff, and an impressive array of celebrity participants and past honorees, as well as this year’s guests of honor (who also included blues-rock artist Bonnie Raitt, jam-rock trailblazers The Grateful Dead and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola).

The tribute for 75-year-old Sandoval — second in the program, following Raitt — began with a short film called Why the Trumpet? narrated by Wynton Marsalis. (The film was partly about Sandoval and his upbringing on the outskirts of Havana but primarily focused on the power of his instrument.) When it ended, actor Andy Garcia took the stage to give a heartfelt and very funny speech about his jazz-playing friend. “I learned a lot from Arturo,” he said. “Like that I could play with him — if I brought his band sandwiches.”

Garcia then yielded the floor to a 17-piece band featuring vocalist Cimafunk, trumpeter Randy Brecker, percussionist Pedrito Martinez and pianist Chucho Valdes (who cofounded the innovative Cuban jazz-funk-rock band Irakere with Sandoval), performing Irakere’s signature song “Bacalao con Pan.” They were followed by trumpet star Chris Botti, who offered a piano-accompanied rendition of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” (with an unidentified pianist). Garcia then returned to describe Sandoval’s accomplishments after defecting to the United States in 1990.

“I’ve got to go and get the band their sandwiches now,” he finished — but not before introducing dancer-director-producer Debbie Allen, who reminisced about collaborating with Sandoval on the 1996 ballet Pepito’s Story.

For all this, however, the highlight of the tribute came from Sandoval himself. The Kennedy Center showed a film of an earlier reception for the honorees at the U.S. State Department; when Sandoval’s turn came, he brought his trumpet to the stage for a beautiful, clear, flourish-laden solo performance of “God Bless America.”

Jazz was also a key component of the tribute given the Apollo Theater, the 125th Street venue in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, which is the first institution ever to be afforded a Kennedy Center Honor. As vocalist/actress Queen Latifah — the broadcast’s host — gave a rousing speech extolling the Apollo’s glorious legacy in the arts, saxophonist Kamasi Washington performed unaccompanied behind her. Latifah then introduced Washington as the theater’s second, and current, Master Artist in Residence. The broadcast’s tribute video then featured audio of Ella Fitzgerald, relating her memories of participation in the Apollo’s famous amateur night showcase, and video footage of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Billie Holiday on the storied stage.

The 47th Kennedy Center Honors will be broadcast Dec. 22 (8:30–11 p.m. EST/PST) on CBS. DB