Miguel Zenon

I guess it should come as no surprise.

Miguel Zenon (apologies for the lack of diacriticals), the New York based Puerto Rican born musician and recent recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship has just released a fantastic new album: Awake. As a listener I had primarily known Miguel for his musicianship, rather than his skills as a composer, seeing him as a sideman a number of times. I knew he wielded a mighty saxophone but apparently his use of the pen and staff paper is just as skilled.

Not being sure what to expect, I was surprised and pleased to hear intricately composed chamber music, kinetic fender rhodes fueled small group improvisations, and intense rhythmic interplay throughout.

He retains the core of his previous ensemble in Luis Perdomo on piano and rhodes, and Hans Glawischnig on bass — gone from his previous effort is Antonio Sanchez, here replaced by Henry Cole, who keeps good musical company and also plays with David Sanchez. The band achieves the kind of constant motion and interplay I've noted in Dafnis Prieto's ensembles, but retains its own unique approach and voice in that context.

Zenon is his typically nimble self on his horn, bringing his bag of saxophone pyrotechnics to the forefront while maintaining remarkable warmth and sense of direction throughout. I wasn't sure if the flow of the album worked on my first couple of listens, but now I'm quite sure it does. The chamber string track opens the album, a group improvisation provides a mid-album interlude, and Zenon playing solo a capella closes the affair, providing a nice symmetry and intriguing progression. The middle interlude features guest horns, with Tony Malaby, Ben Gerstein, and Michael Rodriguez stepping on for duty, providing foils for the free improvisation. Zenon's solo saxophone closes the disc, and after hearing the track I'd love to hear Zenon play in more stripped down settings, like a duo with a drummer or a trio with no chordal instrument.

Awake will certainly make me go back through Zenon's existing catalog to hear what he's done to this point. The band is tightly tuned, handles like a BMW, a stick shift with no cruise control.  If my past experience with Zenon is any indicator, I'd imagine this music to be even more potent in a live setting so I hope I get to see them in action.