Miguel Zenón

Miguel Zenón
Birth name Miguel A. Zenón
Born (1976-12-30) December 30, 1976
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s) Saxophonist
Instruments Alto saxophone
Website miguelzenon.com
Members Luis Perdomo, Hans Glawischnig, Henry Cole

Miguel Zenón (born December 30, 1976) is an alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, music producer and educator living in New York City, USA. He is a Grammy nominee,[1] and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship[2] and a MacArthur Fellowship.[3]

Early life

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Miguel Zenón received his first musical lessons from Ernesto Vigoreaux in the Residencial Luis Llorens Torres, a housing project in San Juan where he spent most of his childhood.[4] He then attended the Escuela Libre de Música, where he was trained for six years on classical saxophone by Angel Marrero.[5]

Later life and career

He graduated from Berklee College of Music and from the Manhattan School of Music, eventually settling in New York City. As a sideman, he has worked with The SFJAZZ Collective, Charlie Haden, Fred Hersh, Kenny Werner, Guillermo Klein, David Sánchez, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, The Mingus Big Band, Ray Barreto, Jerry Gonzalez, Jeff Ballard, Bobby Hutcherson, Steve Coleman and others.

His Esta Plena album (2009) was nominated for two Grammys.[1]

Zenón is a founding member of The SFJAZZ Collective, a group whose past and current members include Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Brian Blade, Nicholas Payton, Dave Douglas, and Eric Harland.[6] He also served as one of the resident artistic directors for the first two seasons (2012–2013) of the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, California.[7]

As a composer, he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, The New York State Council for the Arts,[8] Chamber Music America, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation,[9] Jazz Reach,[10] Peak Performances[11] and PRISM Quartet,[12] among others. Zenón has been featured in articles on publications such as The New York Times,[13] The Wall Street Journal,[14] The Los Angeles Times,[15] The Chicago Tribune,[16] Jazz Times,[17] Boston Globe,[18] Newsday,[19] Bloomberg Pursuits,[20] as well as appearing on the cover of Downbeat Magazine on two occasions (2010 and 2014).[21][22] He has also topped the Rising Star Alto Sax category of the Downbeat Critic's Poll on four different occasions[23] and was chosen by both the 2012 Jazz Times Reader's and Critic's Poll as the top Alto Saxophonist of the year.[24]

In 2003, he taught and performed in West Africa as part of the Kennedy Center's Jazz Ambassador program.[25] Since then, he has taught at institutions such as The Banff Centre,[26] Berklee College of Music, Siena Jazz,[27] Conservatorium Van Amsterdam,[28] Conservatoire de Paris, Barnard College, University of Manitoba, Manhattan School of Music, NYU, UMass-Amherst[29] and the Brubeck Institute.[30] He is also a permanent faculty member at New England Conservatory of Music.[31]

In 2011, Zenón founded Caravana Cultural, a program which presents free-of-charge jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico.[32]

Discography

as Leader

as Sideman

with SF SFJAZZ Collective

with Guillermo Klein

with David Sanchez

with Miles Okazaki

with Paoli Mejias

with Charlie Haden

with Brian Lynch

with Luis Perdomo

with Edu Tancredi y el Bandon 33

with Hans Glawischnig

with others

Album Reviews

References

  1. 1 2 "Saxophonist Miguel Zenon mines the Puerto Rican songbook". LA Times Blogs - Culture Monster. 2011-11-18. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Miguel Zenón". Fellows. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Miguel Zenón". MacArthur Fellows Program. MacArthur Foundation. 27 January 2008.
  4. ↑ http://www.noticel.com/noticia/165265/el-genio-del-jazz-que-salio-de-llorens-torres-galeria-y-video.html
  5. ↑ https://vimeo.com/103838670
  6. ↑ http://www.sfjazz.org/sfjazzcollective
  7. ↑ http://jazztimes.com/articles/131440-concert-review-miguel-zen-n-at-the-sfjazz-center-may-22-25
  8. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/05/arts/jazz-review-inspired-by-the-complexities-of-back-country-troubadours.html
  9. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/arts/music/04zeno.html
  10. ↑ http://www.jazzreach.org/mainstage-concerts-featuring-metta-quintet.html
  11. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/arts/music/the-saxophonist-miguel-zenon-at-montclair-state.html
  12. ↑ http://www.prismquartet.com/?concerts=heritageevolution-2-prism-quartet-w-tim-ries-miguel-zenon-at-symphony-space
  13. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/04/arts/music/albums-by-neil-young-bette-midler-and-miguel-zenn.html
  14. ↑ http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304854804579234584233061164
  15. ↑ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/11/saxophonist-miguel-zenon-mines-puerto-rican-songbook.html
  16. ↑ http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/reich/ct-jazz-fest-finale-20140902-column.html
  17. ↑ http://www.miguelzenon.com/articles/mz_jazztimes.pdf
  18. ↑ http://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2013/02/21/miguel-zenon-lets-his-rhythms-follow-changing-culture/0R8IDr7u80vYQprqv0pvyL/story.html
  19. ↑ http://heavysoundsandtheabstracttruth.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/miguel-zenon-turns-traditional-puerto-rican-sounds-into-innovative-jazz/
  20. ↑ http://www.miguelzenon.com/articles/The%20Art%20of%20the%20Tux%20-%20Bloomberg%20Pursuits.pdf
  21. ↑ http://www.miguelzenon.com/articles/MZ_Downbeat.pdf
  22. ↑ http://www.miguelzenon.com/articles/Zenon_DownBeat_December_2014.pdf
  23. ↑ http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=stories&subsect=story_detail&sid=1021
  24. ↑ http://jazztimes.com/articles/76240-the-2012-expanded-critics-poll
  25. ↑ http://allafrica.com/stories/200306110196.html
  26. ↑ http://www.banffcentre.ca/faculty/faculty-member/3107/miguel-zenn/
  27. ↑ http://photos.allaboutjazz.com/gallery_image.php?id=119740
  28. ↑ https://www.toovia.com/place/amsterdam-netherlands/jazz-department-conservatorium-van-amsterdam
  29. ↑ http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/saxophonist-miguel-zenon-perform-oct-18
  30. ↑ https://brubeckinstitute.wordpress.com/category/news/
  31. ↑ http://necmusic.edu/faculty/miguel-zenón
  32. ↑ http://www.miguelzenon.com/caravana_cultural.php

External links

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