Feature: World renowned trumpeter Arturo Sandoval plays in Lisbon

"It's good to be back here," Arturo Sandoval, a Cuban-born jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer, told a thrilled audience at a river-side auditorium.

The 10-time Grammy winner returned to the Portuguese capital Thursday night after his successful performance in the country last year.

Performing with his virtuosic sextet, Sandoval was often behind the electronic keyboard communicating with his musicians, as well as with the audience, always in a very laid-back manner.

His notes went from sharp to slurred, exposing the audience to Latin jazz, lyrical ballads, Afro-Cuban and mainstream jazz, with a humorous Sandoval singing in English and Spanish in what seemed like an intimate concert despite the great size of the Grand Auditorium.

Toward the end of the night, he sat at the piano and played a ballad he wrote for his friend Gillepsie, "Every day I think of you."

The auditorium was packed Thursday, with around 1,400 attendees.

"He is very much loved by the Portuguese and it's an important day, as he doesn't come here often," organizer Pedro Morais told Xinhua.

Sandoval, who has also won six Billboard Awards, an Emmy Award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, will be performing in Porto, Portugal's second largest city, on Friday.

Born in Cuba in 1949, Sandoval began playing at the age of 13. He played in the well-known group Irakere, which he co-founded with Cuban virtuosos Paquito D'Rivera and Chucho Valdes.

Sandoval has played with a number of famous musicians, probably the most important being the trumpeter Dizzy Gillepsie, who he has referred to as his "spiritual father." Endi