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& improvisational freedom">Esta Plena embodies excellence - memorable performances, vigorous composition, & improvisational freedom

Mark F. Turner, All About Jazz

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 »

Submitted by crwadmin on November 9th, 2009 — 12:00am

Natural Phenomenon-Gracefully powerful and effortlessly swinging, 18-year-old drum prodigy Justin Faulkner is dropping jaws with the Branford Marsalis Quartet

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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Submitted by Ben on October 31st, 2009 — 11:00pm

Folk Art: On Esta Plena, saxophonist Miguel Zenón matches the proletarian plena music of his native Puerto Rico with modern-jazz ethos

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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Submitted by Ben on October 31st, 2009 — 11:00pm

Bilingual Rhythms: Drummer Henry Cole combines postbop and plena

Fernando Gonzalez, Jazz Times

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 »

Submitted by crwadmin on October 31st, 2009 — 11:00pm

Miguel Zenón gets back down to the business of making some serious music.

Josef Woodard, Jazz Times

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 »

Submitted by crwadmin on October 31st, 2009 — 11:00pm