Culture, Music, Fusion, & Emotion

Photo: Jimmy Katz

If you have closely followed the career of Miguel Zenón, you'll know it's been quite a journey from his early recordings with the Either/Orchestra and tenor saxophonist David Sánchez as well as his 2002 debut as a leader (the aptly-titled "Looking Forward" which featured, among others pianist Luis Perdomo and bassist Hans Glawischnig, both of whom are still members of Quartet).  Zenón is also a founding member of the SFJazz Collective, an octet organized in 2004 currently in its 15th season (which will be the saxophonist's final one with the ensemble).  Go back and listen to the early recordings and you'll hear he's already has his signature sound and that his original compositions were (and still are) inspired by the folkloric and popular music of his native Puerto Rico.  What has changed from those initial recordings is that his writing has matured in wonderful ways.

His latest project and album, "Yo Soy La Tradición", is his fourth album on his Miel Music label.  Zenón has created a collection of pieces inspired by classic Puerto Rican songs as well as elements of musical styles from different cities and towns on the island.  Scored for alto saxophone and string quartet. Zenón's partners on the project are the Chicago-based Spektral Quartet (violinists Clara Lyon and Maeve Feinberg, violist Doyle Armrest, and cellist Russell Rolen). Recorded during the horrific days when Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico (and elsewhere in the Caribbean and United States), the results are an amazing blends of styles, melodies, harmonies, interactions, and rhythms. Rhythms?  String quartet?  O, yes, a number of these works are based on "dance" songs and all five musicians play "percussive" melodic lines and, in the case of the strings, plenty of pizzicato.

Photo: Robert Watson

Five weeks ago, I wrote a preview of the album and there is no need here to go through every track (I included several cuts to listen to - click here).  But, let's look at "Rosario", the song that opens the album. It's based on a Catholic Church tradition in which every segment of the Rosary is presented to the congregation with a musical piece to accompany it.  The piece opens slowly with a melody that has traces of the Shaker Hymn from Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring" (the melodic echo appears several times during the performance) with the alto saxophone leading the strings into the music.  They come together and move apart throughout the piece yet it's those strings that add the tension and percussive elements to the piece.  Zenón hands the lead position to viola, violin, and cello as well as keeping a section to himself.  The blend of his saxophone with the strings is impressive throughout and while it seems as if he is the "front man", this music is a true collaboration.

Photo: Brian Jackson/Chicago Tribune

"Yo Soy La Tradición" is brilliant, an entrancing, attractive, intelligent, and often stunning collection of songs that blur the lines between classical, folk, jazz, and popular music. In fact, throw out any and all labels. The insistence on labels only insults the intelligence of the audience.  Instead, focus on how beautiful - yes, beautiful - this music is.  Listen deeply, smile with it, be moved by the passions and the emotions, and enjoy how seamless the arrangements are throughout.  This is not "background music"; instead, this album will resonate for as long as you give yourself fully to the experience.  Kudos to Miguel Zenón and the Spektral Quartet!

For more information, go to miguelzenon.com and to spektralquartet.com.

Enjoy "Promesa":



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One more thing. If you look up at the right hand side of the blog, you'll notice that there are new episodes of "The Jazz Session", the excellent series of interviews with musicians conducted by, arguably, one of the best, Jason Crane. You will learn so much from listening to Mr. Crane and his guests and it's fun!  Very good to have him back - there are still so many musicians out there deserving of the Jason Crane approach! For more information, go to thejazzsession.com.

Aretha Passes, Miguel with Strings Attached, & Monk's "Works"

And, just like that, Aretha Franklin is gone. Yes, there had been dire warnings but, until her death was announced yesterday (August 16), I could not quite believe it was going to happen. Her voice - that glorious, hair-raising, soulful instrument - has been part of my life since her Columbia Records days in the early 1960s. Those records have their moments yet the day I heard the opening minute of "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", I was no longer an 18-year old punk but someone who began to understand what "adult" meant.  She set the bar so high. Ms. Franklin could take a song, just about any song, and make it her own.  She made Otis Redding's "Respect" her song in the manner that Mr. Redding did with the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" (in the latter instance, the raucous remake makes the original sound like a schoolboy tune).  That first Atlantic album, named for the song listed above, unleashed Ms. Franklin's voice - she may have only been 24 but she sang like a mature "knowing" woman.  Producer Jerry Wexler (if this was Great Britain, he would be knighted for recording Aretha down South) sat her at the piano in Fame Studio, surrounding her with musicians who worked in that great Muscle Shoals, Alabama institution and let her loose.  For subsequent recordings, Wexler would bring the band (or variations) to New York City to record because Aretha was uncomfortable down South.

She had her ups-and-downs, fell in and out of favor, but the voice never wavered.  There were several  successful gospel albums, plenty of retrospectives, and a a slew of television appearances (especially in the last few years) that always served to remind people this was an artist who transcends generations, labels, and styles.  In the articles that have surfaced since the announcement of her passing, just about each one talks about 2015 appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors when she sang "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" in a tribute to its writer Carole King. 73 years old at the time, her voice as amazing as it was five decades before, she "owns" that song, those emotions, that crowd, even the people watching at home.  It still moves me to tears and I have watched this video clip a dozen or more times.  Whether you believe in a Heaven or Hell or even God, Aretha will bring you to your knees in praise! Bless you, Aretha Franklin! Bless you and thank you!

Take a breath....we move on!

The picture above shows the four members of Spektral Quartet, alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, and the person who brought those musicians to the studio, bandoneeonist Julien Labro. Spektral and Labro made an album together in 2014 that the saxophonist guested on and, as you will hear in the video below, planted the seeds for a collaboration that has resulted in "Yo Soy La Tradición", an album that will be released in September on Zenón's Miel Music label.  Give it a listen plus check out the video below for a full song from the album.

One more deep breath.....and we'll change gears one more time as well.

Guitarist Miles Okazaki, a native of Washington state, moved to New York City in 1997. In the two decades since, he's made his mark working alongside vocalist Jane Monheit, pianist Kenny Barron, trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, and, most recently, with saxophonist Steve Coleman's Five Elements (he's on the past two albums including the brand new "Live at The Village Vanguard." He's also issued four CDs under his own name.  

His latest adventure, recorded over an eight-month period (starting in September of Thelonious Monk's 100th birth year, 2017 and finishing in May of 2018), Okazaki recorded "Work", a six-volume set of the complete works on that most influential composer of the 20th Century. It's only available on the guitarist's Bandcamp page where you can purchase all six volumes together or buy each one separately.  I'll post a review soon but I can tell you this - this music is quite fascinating. I've posted one tune below as well as a link to the liner notes to whet your appetite.  

Here's the story:

www.milesokazaki.com/albums/work-2018/.