press

From the fruits of winning both a MacArthur (”genius grant”) and Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008, alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, expands his clear vision of modern jazz and Puerto Rican folk music in Esta Plena. With an incisive voice, his involvement with the SFJAZZ Collective, Guillermo Klein’s Y Los Gauchos and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra is well documented, but his own recordings are what truly reflect his unique heritage and identity. Read more »

Fresh off of garnering his mantelpiece-polishing Guggenheim and MacArthur awards, alto saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón gets back down to the business of making some serious music. No, what we hear on Zenón’s impressive new project isn’t steeped in the stuff of music of a capital “S”-serious nature, but music with integrity, energy, poise and a fresh vision of how the Afro-Caribbean jazz aesthetic can evolve without losing its deep roots. Read more »

A lot of music has been played since Chano Pozo’s grooves confounded jazz drummers playing at his side. Still, blending traditional Afro-Caribbean rhythms and standard notions of swing remains a challenge, one that drummer Henry Cole didn’t take lightly. Read more »

Date: 11.01.2009
Publication: Jazz Times
Author: Shaun Brady

During the last week of August, Justin Faulkner essentially bade farewell to Philadelphia by filling a familiar role-playing house drummer behind vibraphonist Tony Miceli for the weekly jam session at Chris’ Jazz Café.
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Date: 11.01.2009
Publication: Jazz Times
Author: Fernando Gonzalez

Smart and tough, the music on saxophonist Miguel Zenón’s Esta Plena (Marsalis) often evokes the sounds of his neighborhood back in Puerto Rico. But Esta Plena is not about nostalgia- it’s about a certain wisdom.
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“Oh, you have a dog! Oh. I want a dog so bad,” vocalist Claudia Acuña says after hearing the household canine on the other end of the phone, Rocky, barking at a passing pickup.

Learning that Rocky is a black Lab / Shepherd cross, she instantly snaps, “I hate you,” and dissolves into giggles. “Labradors are one of my favorites.”

Acuña’s heart sits close to the surface, and if it’s touched, her heart leaps up into her luscious alto—where it resides throughout her latest CD, En Este Momento (Marsalis Records). Read more »

Date: 10.30.2009
Publication: World Music Central
Author: Angel Romero

If Marsalis Music signs you, it means you are above average in the world of American jazz. Puerto Rican saxophonist Miguel Zenón proved his worth at a young age. Last year Zenón was granted both a MacArthur and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008 and he has already recorded four albums for the reputable Marsalis Music. The latest release is Esta Plena. As the name implies, this recording is dedicated to one of the great musical traditions of Puerto Rico, the plena, reinterpreted with the approach of 21st century jazz.
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Date: 10.19.2009
Publication: Democrat and Chonicle
Author: Jeff Spevak

Jazz is all about winging it, Branford Marsalis suggested early on. And since Jeff “Tain” Watts was still winging his way to Rochester, Marsalis’ unexpectedly slimmed-down quartet had to improvise in unusual ways Sunday evening at the Eastman Theatre.
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Date: 10.14.2009
Publication: NPR.org
Author: Josh Jackson

Saxophonist Miguel Zenón’s career has taken a relentlessly upward trajectory over the past decade. He’s a 2008 winner of the prestigious Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships, as well as a founding member of the SF Jazz Collective. All the while, Zenón has investigated his Puerto Rican roots with a quiet resolve. On his new recording, Esta Plena, he’s distilled his musical history into a clear conception: a cultural exchange between jazz and the folkloric form known as plena.
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Date: 10.10.2009
Publication: Chicago Tribune
Author: Howard Reich

Since its inception, jazz has been an international music, drawing deeply on influences from the Caribbean, Africa and Europe.

But its global voice never has been more pronounced than in the past 20 years, thanks to the stylistic breakthroughs of Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez, Puerto Rican saxophonist David Sanchez, Chilean vocalist Claudia Acuña and many more.
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