Totally Jazzed

You would not expect to find Cuban jazz legend Arturo Sandoval spending his time at a busy construction site, where the discordant sounds of heavy equipment threaten to overpower conversational tones. But that is just where he has been every day, all day, for the past month or so. Tonight he will be the happiest man in the room at the opening of the Arturo Sandoval Jazz Club located in the Deauville Beach Resort.

“Everything I’ve saved, I put it here. I don’t know if I will be able to recoup that, ever. And I don’t care,” the Grammy-winning virtuoso says. Miami Beach is in for a real musical treat. Sandoval has built an establishment that harks back to the Beach’s Rat Pack halcyon days of the Fifties. “This hotel was number one in the country! The Beatles performed here. Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand all did shows here,” says Sandoval. The lineup promises to be stellar, with scheduled performances by Roberta Flack, Joshua Redman, Willy Chirino, and James Moody. Tonight at 8:00, Negroni’s Trio will open for the owner himself. “Please try to dress as elegantly as possible. We really don’t want people here with sandals or jeans or shorts,” Sandoval adds.
Sun., April 2, 8 p.m.