Musicians and music lovers attending this year's jazz festival at Casper College will experience a Latin twist on an old favorite.

Casper College's 40th Annual Kinser Jazz Festival and events leading up to it will pay homage to the Latin culture. The event will feature Latin jazz great Arturo Sandoval performing at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 6 at the John F. Welsh Auditorium at Natrona County High School. Tickets are available at the door and in advance online at www.caspercollege.edu/jazz.

Sandoval, who became a U.S. citizen in 1998, is a jazz trumpeter and has recorded several albums during his career. He's played with jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie and others during his career.

Cuban flavor tonight

Starting today, residents can get a real taste of the Latin culture. An ethnic dinner and annual World's Fair will be held today at the college from 5 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. in the Roberts Commons Cafeteria and will feature food and culture of Cuba.

Tickets were sold in advance but there will be a limited number of tickets available for sale at the door at a cost of $9.50. The World's Fair portion of the event is free and will be held from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Robert Commons ballroom. The World's Fair will include exhibits from all over the world.

Life of an artist

On Friday, the college will show a film biography on Sandoval entitled, "For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story," at 7:30 p.m. in Durham Hall. The film stars Andy Garcia and was nominated for two Golden Globes.

"We thought showing this film on Mr. Sandoval's life would be a great way to acquaint the community with him and his work," said Robert Kleinschmidt, jazz festival executive director.

Sandoval, who plays the trumpet and flugelhorn, started playing jazz at an early age. He's won several Grammys and awards for his work. After a successful career in Cuba, Sandoval defected in 1990 to the U.S. and became a citizen in 1998.

Even though he had success, Kleinschmidt said the movie explains Sandoval was limited in where he could play and what tunes he could perform.

Students will play

During the actual festival on Feb. 6 and 7, 60 high school student groups from all over the state will get the chance to perform. Each group will perform for about 30 minutes and a professional adjudicator will then review their work and give them pointers on how to improve, Kleinschmidt said.

The performances are open to the public. Vocal groups will perform in the Roberts Commons Ballroom and instrumental groups will play in Durham Hall in the Aley Fine Arts Center.

"We're encouraging everyone to perform at least one Latino song," he said.

That way, the students and their teachers will then be able to see where their strengthens and weaknesses are in that form of music. On Feb.6, Sandoval is scheduled to be at the clinics.

"The festival is a noncompetitive event," Kleinschmidt said. "It's designed to get students excited about learning."

Big band jam

On Feb. 7, a big band jam session will be held which will include faculty, students and adjudicators who participated in the festival. The session will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Mardi Gras room of the Parkway Plaza. The free event is open to the public.

Auditions also will be held during those two days for high school students who want to attend college and study music. The auditions will be held each day from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the Black Box Theater in the Gertrude Krampert Theatre Complex at Casper College.

Several state and regional colleges also have been invited to participate and audition students in instrumental, vocal and musical theatre, Kleinschmidt said. To schedule an audition, students are asked to call Deanna Dyer at 268-2606, 1-800-442-2963 ext. 2606 or ddyer@caspercollege.edu.

Reporter Aimee Tabor can be reached at (307) 266-0593 or aimee.tabor@casperstartribune.net.