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When you hear a musician use his voice or instrument to convey an emotion, is the way it is expressed really authentic to the artist’s personality? Read more »

Like this nation of immigrants whose disparate cultures converge to create something new, jazz also constantly evolves, in part by the infusion of hitherto unrelated styles of music. Latin jazz is a prime example of this musical melting pot, beginning with Dizzy Gillespie’s seminal collaborations with percussionist Chano Pozo and trumpeter Mario Bauza in the 1940s. Read more »

One of my lasting memories of the recent London Jazz Festival was the outstanding gig by Miguel Zenón’s Quartet at Ronnie Scott’s playing music from this brand new album. Regrettably Luis Perdomo couldn’t appear because of visa problems, but the French pianist Laurent Coq who deputised at 24 hours notice, sight-reading the most intriquate arrangements imaginable, was excellent. Read more »

We compiled our top 50 new releases and top 10 historical/reissue recordings of 2009 from year-end lists by our critics. To see each voter’s ballot, go to this page. Only CDs and box sets released between Nov. 1, 2008, and Oct. 31, 2009 were eligible. Some releases may have slipped through the cracks, however, as release dates shifted or weren’t available.

Original blurbs by Evan Haga and Jeff Tamarkin. Review excerpts by Thomas Conrad, Steve Greenlee, Christopher Loudon, Bill Milkowski, Mike Shanley, George Varga, Michael J. West and Josef Woodard.

Top 50 New Releases Read more »

Miguel Zenón’s ‘Esta Plena’ and Claudia Acuña’s ‘En Este Momento’ are two of Howard Reich’s “Top 10 innovative jazz releases of 2009” featured in the Chicago Tribune! Reich writes that these releases represent “Innovative work abounded in 2009, with particularly strong contributions from Chicago artists.” Congratulations, Miguel and Claudia!

Here are the descriptions of the two Marsalis Music releases from Reich’s list: Read more »

Like a nimble jet aircraft, Miguel Zenón’s Esta Plena leaps into flight from its very first notes. The album arrives not long after Awake (Marsalis Music, 2008), Zenón’s jazz quartet/string quartet outing of 2008, but it follows more logically on the heels of 2005’s Jíbaro (Marsalis Music), a jazz meditation on the rural music of Zenón’s native Puerto Rico. Esta Plena, different but related, finds the alto saxophonist melding authentic plena music with the forward-thinking jazz aesthetic he’s developed as a New Yorker. Read more »

You have to search deep in the 109 categories of the Grammy Awards nominees list to find a Latino artist, but almost halfway through it, you score.

Miguel Zenón, 32, a Puerto Rican saxophonist prodigy, received his first two nominations last Wednesday for his fifth CD, “Esta Plena,” a captivating jazz tribute to plena, an African derived rhythm from the Caribbean island.

“It’s an honor being nominated, and I’m sure it will help us spread our music in many ways,” said Zenón, who lives in Washington Heights. “It always feel good when people appreciate what you do.” Read more »

Date: 11.15.2009
Publication: Sebastian Scotney’s Telegraph Blog
Author: Sebastian Scotney

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Claudia Acuña (Friday through Sunday)
“En Este Momento” (Marsalis Music) is the most rewarding album by this Chilean jazz singer in some time. Offering original material and songs by the Chilean singer-songwriter Victor Jara (among others), Ms. Acuña radiates ardor and acuity, connecting easily with a band that includes the guitarist Juancho Herrera, who reappears here. At 7:30 and 9:30p.m., with an 11:30 set on Friday and Saturday, Jazz Standard, 116 East 27th Street, Manhattan.

Kindrid spirits: Elis Regina, Abbey Lincoln, Victor Jara
Show: Tuesday at Blues Alley. Shows start at 8 and 10p.m.

With her keen jazz sensibilities and improvisational finesse, acclaimed Chilean singer-songwriter Claudia Acuña personalizes pop and jazz standards with great ease. On “En Este Moment,” however, Acuña turns her attention to mostly Spanish-language material: original songs as well as contributions by Chilean poet Victor Jara, Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla and others. Read more »