Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (March 2012): Miguel Zenón

Multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American Folkloric Music and Jazz.

His latest recording, Alma Adentro (Marsalis Music, 2011), is a tribute to The Puerto Rican Songbook. On it he arranges and explores the music of five legendary Puerto Rican composers: Bobby Capó, Tite Curet Alonso, Pedro Flores, Rafael Hernández, and Sylvia Rexach (whom he considers “the George Gershwins, Cole Porters and Jerome Kerns of Puerto Rican song”). The recording features his longtime working quartet of pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Henry Cole, plus a ten piece woodwind ensemble orchestrated and conducted by close friend and collaborator Guillermo Klein. This groundbreaking project both honors the music of these masters while at the same time exposing their music to new audiences. Alma Adentro was chosen as the Best Jazz Recording of 2011 by iTunes and NPR, and was Nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón studied classical saxophone at the Escuela Libre de Música in Puerto Rico before receiving a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies from Berklee College of Music, and a master’s degree in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music. Zenón’s more formal studies, however, are supplemented and enhanced by his vast and diverse experience as a sideman and collaborator. Throughout his career he has divided his time equally between working with older jazz masters and working with the music’s younger innovators --irrespective of styles and genres. The list of musicians Zenón has toured and/or recorded with includes: Charlie Haden, David Sánchez, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Guillermo Klein y los Guachos, The Mingus Big Band, Bobby Hutcherson and Steve Coleman. He has also participated in recent projects with Adam Cruz, Antonio Sánchez, Jason Linder, Miles Okazaki, Kenny Werner, David Gilmore and Aaron Goldberg.

He is a founding member of the groundbreaking 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. In 2012, Zenón’s association with SFJAZZ will further expand to include his new role as resident artistic director along with Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Regina Carter and John Santos.

Zenón’s six recordings as a leader (including the above mentioned Alma Adentro) represent not only his growth as a musician, but also his ability to constantly evolve and reinvent himself as a conceptualist and producer.

His debut CD, Looking Forward (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2002), represents a snapshot of the very eclectic musical interests of the then 24 year old musician, and was selected by the New York Times as the number one “alternative” jazz recording of 2002.

His second recording as a leader, Ceremonial (Marsalis Music, 2004), was described by All About Jazz as a “ head on crash of Latin, Jazz and Classical traditions--modern Jazz at it’s very best, ” and garnered unanimous critical praise and recognition both within and outside the jazz world.

Jíbaro (Marsalis Music, 2005), his third recording, was further proof that all the critical praise he had been receiving was well deserved. The recording is an exploration of a style of popular Puerto Rican folk music known as La Música Jíbara. The Chicago Tribune summed it up best when they wrote: “The instrumental prowess of Zenon's playing, the vigor of his compositions and the sensitivity of his band to Puerto Rican song forms point to new possibilities in jazz.” Like his previous recordings, Jíbaro was uniformly well received and appeared on many top ten lists including The New York Times, Latin Beat, El Nuevo Día, and the Chicago Tribune.

Decidedly more personal and introspective, Awake (Marsalis Music, 2008) incorporates a string quartet and additional horns to Zenón's core group and brings to the forefront his formidable skills as a writer and arranger. As was admirably put in Audiophile Audition: “ This is an album far beyond the usual sax & string outing, revealing a unique statement that communicates passion, intellect and spirit to the listener." Awake also caught the attention of the international press, garnering it 5 star reviews and top honors in publications like Jazzwise (UK), Jazz Man (France) and Jazz Magazine (France).

Zenón returned to his Puerto Rican roots for inspiration in his next outing, Esta Plena (Marsalis Music, 2009), which draws from the traditional Plena music style of his home country and was supported by a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. On it Zenón augmented his quartet to include three percussionists/vocalists and took on the additional roles of both lyricist and vocalist. Jazz Times wrote that Esta Plena is “…music with integrity, energy, poise and a fresh vision of how the Afro-Caribbean jazz aesthetic can evolve without losing its deep roots." In addition to being hailed by critics (New York Times, Village Voice, El Nuevo Día , Downbeat, The Chicago Tribune ) as one of the best recordings of 2009, the recording earned Zenón two Grammy nominations (one for Best Improvised solo and one for Best Latin Jazz Recording of the year) as well as a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Recording of the year.

As a composer he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, The New York State Council for the Arts, Chamber Music America, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Jazz Reach, Montclair University, and many of his peers.

He has been featured in articles on publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Jazz Times, Jazziz, Boston Globe, Billboard, Newsday, Details, as well as gracing the cover of Downbeat Magazine and the Swiss jazz magazine, Jazz N More. He has also toped the Rising Star Alto Sax category of the Downbeat Critic's Poll on four different occasions.

Zenon’s biography would not be complete without discussing his role as an educator. In 2003, he was chosen by the Kennedy Center to teach and perform in West Africa as part of their Jazz Ambassador program. Since then, he has given hundreds of lectures and master classes and has taught all over the world at institutions which include: The Banff Centre, Berklee College of Music, Siena Jazz, Conservatorium Van Amsterdam, Conservatoire de Paris, University of Manitoba, Manhattan School of Music, UMass-Amherst and the Brubeck Institute. He is also a permanent faculty member at New England Conservatory of Music. But perhaps what best reflects his commitment to education and cements his growing reputation as a "cultural ambassador", is a program that he founded in 2011, called Caravana Cultural.

The main purpose of Caravana Cultural is to present free Jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico. The program makes a "cultural investment" in the Island by giving these communities a chance to listen to jazz of the highest caliber (Zenón invites some of the best musicians in the New York jazz scene to perform as guests), while at the same time getting young Puerto Rican musicians actively involved in the concert activities. Starting in February 2011 and continuing through 2013, Zenón will present a concert every four months. Each concert focuses on the music of a specific jazz legend (Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, among others) and is preceded by a pre-concert presentation which touches on the basic elements of jazz and improvisation. Over the last six years Zenón has also personally organized "Jazz Jam Sessions" in the area of San Juan, as a way of creating a platform for younger jazz musicians to grow and interact with one another.

In 2008 he was selected as one of 25 distinguished individuals to receive the prestigious and coveted MacArthur Fellowship, more commonly known as the "Genius Grant”.

Zenón lives in New York City with his wife Elga.

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (February 2012): Anat Cohen

Anat Cohen - Biography

An established bandleader and prolific composer, idiomatically conversant with modern and traditional jazz, classical music, Brazilian choro, Argentine tango, and an expansive timeline of Afro-Cuban styles, Anat Cohen has established herself as one of the primary voices of her generation on both the tenor saxophone and clarinet since arriving in New York in 1999.

In September 2008, Anat Cohen released Notes From The Village, her fourth album as a leader. Recorded at Avatar studios in New York City, the album builds on Cohen's acclaimed 2007 releases, captures the thrilling energy of her live shows, and proves her to be an artistically adventurous writer and performer. Notes From The Village finds Anat leading a quartet of some of the most sought-after, engaging young performers in New York, including pianist Jason Lindner, bassist Omer Avital, and drummer Daniel Freedman, with accompaniment from guitarist Gilad Hekselman on three tracks. The album features compositions written by Cohen as well as her interpretations of songs by Fats Waller, John Coltrane, Sam Cooke and Ernesto Lecuona.

“In preparing for the recording,” says Anat “I really wanted to capture the free, risk-taking, open quality this band achieves when performing live. I also wanted to stretch my compositions, and arrangements.”

Early responses to the album have been overwhelmingly positive; The New York Times’ Nate Chinen wrote that “Notes From The Village is a resounding confirmation; yes, she is the real deal”, DownBeat Magazine awarded the release four stars, stating that “Cohen makes it seem easy, mixing a gift for melody and an improvisational fluidity that has few peers today.”

Anat’s previous outings, Noir and Poetica were released simultaneously in April 2007, inspiring a string of enthusiastic reviews. The Washington Post said that “Cohen has emerged as one of the brightest, most original young instrumentalists in jazz [...] [she] has expanded the vocabulary of jazz with a distinctive accent of her own.” The Village Voice spoke of her “Enviable insouciance” and how “she alludes to the mystical in a merry way,” and Downbeat Magazine expressed the opinion that “Noir could be a classic” and “[Cohen’s] stately intonation and unforced elegance on clarinet could take her to the top.” Noir and Poetica both appeared on many year-end best-of summary lists, including those of Paste Magazine, The New York Sun, Slate, JazzTimes and others.

Anat has performed for audiences in New York’s Village Vanguard, Jazz Standard, Iridium, The Jazz Gallery, and the JVC Jazz Festival. She has also appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, San Francisco’s Yoshi's, Boston’s Regattabar, Umbria Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Anat’s July 2007 engagement at the Village Vanguard in New York was a historic one; Anat is the first female reed player, and the first Israeli to headline at the club.

Ms. Cohen’s accomplishments have been recognized in a flurry of awards and distinctions from critics and fans alike; In 2011 she was the winner of both DownBeat Magazine’s critics poll and Reader’s Poll in the Clarinet category, She topped the Rising Star-Clarinet category from 2007 through 2010, and in 2010 she won DownBeat Critic’s poll for both Rising Star Jazz Artist and Rising Star Jazz Soprano Saxophone. The Jazz Journalists Association named Anat Cohen Clarinetist of the Year from 2007 through 2011 – the first time in the history of the awards that an artist has earned top clarinet honors five years running.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Anat grew up with musical siblings; her older brother Yuval is himself a saxophonist of note, and her younger brother, Avishai, is one of New York’s busiest trumpeters. She began clarinet studies at age 12 and played jazz on clarinet for the first time in the Jaffa Conservatory’s Dixieland band. At 16, she joined the school’s big band and learned to play the tenor saxophone. The same year, Anat entered the prestigious “Thelma Yelin” High School for the Arts, where she majored in jazz. After graduation, she discharged her mandatory Israeli military service duty from 1993-95, playing tenor saxophone in the Israeli Air Force band.

In 1996, Anat matriculated at Berklee College of Music in Boston. There she met faculty member Phil Wilson, who encouraged her to play clarinet, and other inspiring teachers such as Greg Hopkins, Ed Tomassi, Hal Crook, George Garzone, and Bill Pierce, and an elite international peer group of students.

During her Berklee years, Anat visited New York during breaks between semesters, making a beeline for Smalls to soak up the hybrid of grooves, world music and mainstream jazz that people like Jason Lindner and Omer Avital were then evolving. Back in Boston, she played tenor saxophone in a variety of musical contexts with various bands including Afro-Cuban, Argentinean, klezmer, contemporary Brazilian music and classical Brazilian choro. Anat also began her association with Sherrie Maricle’s top-shelf all-woman big band Diva Jazz Orchestra, which continued into the new millennium.

Once ensconced in New York, Anat quickly found work in various Brazilian ensembles like the Choro Ensemble and Duduka Da Fonseca’s Samba Jazz Quintet, and started performing with David Ostwald’s “Gully Low Jazz Band,” which explores the music of Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet and their Pan-American contemporaries.

Anat documented her bona fides on her debut CD, Place and Time, one of All About Jazz-New York’s “Best Debut Albums of 2005.” On the liner notes for Notes From the Village, Ira Gitler writes “She is formidable. Long may she continue to enrich the music in myriad ways.” There is every indication that her star will continue to rise for a long time to come.

Anat Cohen’s Clarinetwork Live at the Village Vanguard album, released April 2010, inspired by Benny Goodman and celebrating his centennial, is a musical tour-de-force. Cohen leads an all star rhythm section (Benny Green, Peter Washington, Lewis Nash ) on this exquisite live recording that returns the clarinet to its rightful role at the forefront of jazz. Winner of five consecutive Jazz Journalists Association “Clarinetist of the Year” awards and winner of DownBeat critic’s & Reader’s polls in the clarinet category (2011) Anat Continues to perfrom around the world in Various musical settings.

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month: Hiromi (January 2012)

Hiromi Uehara first mesmerized the jazz community with her 2003 Telarc debut, Another Mind. The buzz started by her first album spread all the way back to her native Japan, where Another Mind shipped gold (100,000 units) and received the Recording Industry Association of Japan's (RIAJ) Jazz Album of the Year Award. The keyboardist/ composer's second release, Brain, won the Horizon Award at the 2004 Surround Music Awards, Swing Journal's New Star Award, Jazz Life's Gold Album, HMV Japan's Best Japanese Jazz Album, and the Japan Music Pen Club's Japanese Artist Award (the JMPC is a classical/jazz journalists club). Brain was also named Album of the Year in Swing Journal's 2005 Readers Poll. In 2006, Hiromi won Best Jazz Act at the Boston Music Awards and the Guinness Jazz Festival's Rising Star Award. She also claimed Jazzman of the Year, Pianist of the Year and Album of the Year in Swing Journal Japan's Readers Poll for her 2006 release, Spiral. Hiromi continues her winning streak with the 2007 release of Time Control and in 2008, Beyond Standard. Both releases feature Hiromi's super group, Sonic Bloom.

Born in Shizuoka, Japan, in 1979, Hiromi took her first piano lessons at age six. She learned from her earliest teacher to tap into the intuitive as well as the technical aspects of music.

"Her energy was always so high, and she was so emotional," Hiromi says of her first piano teacher. "When she wanted me to play with a certain kind of dynamics, she wouldn't say it with technical terms. If the piece was something passionate, she would say, 'Play red.' Or if it was something mellow, she would say, 'Play blue.' I could really play from my heart that way, and not just from my ears."

Hiromi took that intuitive approach a step further when she enrolled in the Yamaha School of Music less then a year after her first piano lessons. By age 12, she was performing in public, sometimes with very high-profile orchestras. "When I was 14, I went to Czechoslovakia and played with the Czech Philharmonic," she says. "That was a great experience, to play with such a professional orchestra."

Further into her teens, her tastes expanded to include jazz as well as classical music. A chance meeting with Chick Corea when she was 17 led to a performance with the well-known jazz pianist the very next day.

"It was in Tokyo," Hiromi recalls. "He was doing something at Yamaha, and I was visiting Tokyo at the time to take some lessons. I talked to some teachers and said that I really wanted to see him. I sat down with him, and he said 'Play something.' So I played something, and then he said, 'Can you improvise?' I told him I could, and we did some two-piano improvisations. Then he asked me if I was free the next day. I told him I was, and he said, 'Well, I have a concert tomorrow. Why don't you come?' So I went there, and he called my name at the end of the concert, and we did some improvisations together."

After a couple years of writing advertising jingles for Nissan and a few other high-profile Japanese companies, Hiromi came to the United States in 1999 to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. For as open as her musical sensibilities had already been when she came to the U.S., the Berklee experience pushed her envelope even further.

"It expanded so much the way I see music," she says. "Some people dig jazz, some people dig classical music, some people dig rock. Everyone is so concerned about who they like. They always say, 'This guy is the best,' 'No, this guy is the best.' But I think everyone is great. I really don't have barriers to any type of music. I could listen to everything from metal to classical music to anything else."

Among her mentors at Berklee was veteran jazz bassist Richard Evans, who teaches arranging and orchestration. Evans co-produced Another Mind, her Telarc debut, with longtime friend and collaborator Ahmad Jamal, who has also taken a personal interest in Hiromi's artistic development. "She is nothing short of amazing," says Jamal. "Her music, together with her overwhelming charm and spirit, causes her to soar to unimaginable musical heights."

At 26, Hiromi stands at the threshold of limitless possibility, constantly drawing inspiration from virtually everyone and everything around her. Her list of influences, like her music itself, is boundless. "I love Bach, I love Oscar Peterson, I love Franz Liszt, I love Ahmad Jamal," she says. "I also love people like Sly and the Family Stone, Dream Theatre and King Crimson. Also, I'm so much inspired by sports players like Carl Lewis and Michael Jordan. Basically, I'm inspired by anyone who has big, big energy. They really come straight to my heart."

But she won't, as a matter of principle, put labels on her music. She'll continue to follow whatever moves her, and leave the definitions to others.

"I don't want to put a name on my music," she says. "Other people can put a name on what I do. It's just the union of what I've been listening to and what I've been learning. It has some elements of classical music, it has some rock, it has some jazz, but I don't want to give it a name."



Telarc Discography:
Another Mind (2003) CD-83558
Brain (2004) CD-83600
Spiral (2005) CD-83631
Time Control (2007) CD-83655
Beyond Standard (2008) CD-83686

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (December 2011) - Eddie Gomez

http://eddiegomez.com/

Legendary bassist EDDIE GOMEZ has been on the cutting edge of music for over four decades. The Latin GRAMMY® award-winner’s impressive resumé includes performances with jazz giants such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan and Benny Goodman. Eddie’s unique sound and style can be heard on hundreds of recordings spanning the worlds of jazz, classical, Latin jazz, rhythm & blues, popular and contemporary music.

Born in 1944 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Eddie moved to New York City with his family at an early age. His love of music led him to the double bass as a precocious 11-year old student in the public school system. Two years later he was accepted to the High School of Music and Art and soon began private studies with the great double bass teacher Fred Zimmerman. During these years, he performed with many professional dance bands and was a member of the Newport Youth Band led by Marshall Brown. By 18, he had performed with such jazz luminaries as Buck Clayton, Marian McPartland and Paul Bley.

Eddie continued his studies at the Juilliard School of Music, where his contemporaries included Chick Corea, Hubert Laws, James Levine, Itzak Perlman, Paula Robinson and Gary Karr. By the end of his third year of school, he dreamed of a career as a performing jazz musician. Later that summer he joined with Gary McFarland and soon after the Gerry Mulligan Quintet.

In the spring of 1966, both Mulligan’s group (with Eddie on bass) and the Bill Evans Trio performed for a week at the famed Village Vanguard. That week at the Vanguard changed Eddie’s life forever. When Bill Evans heard the young phenom, he practically hired him on the spot. Bill called a few weeks later and Eddie’s dream had been realized. At age 21, he was the bassist with the Bill Evans Trio – and rose quickly to fame. TIME magazine declared in its review of the trio’s first recording, “Eddie Gomez has the world on his strings.”

Joining the Bill Evans Trio was indeed a turning point in Eddie’s career. He had arrived in a big way and the jazz community took notice. For 11 years, Eddie played an integral role in the Bill Evans Trio’s sound and evolution. This period
of vast artistic growth with Bill Evans included performances throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Asia, as well as dozens of recordings – two of which won GRAMMY® awards. During this time, Eddie also realized another dream performing on many occasions with the great Miles Davis, in the Davis quintet that also featured Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams.

In 1977, Eddie left the Evans Trio to explore new musical territory. For the
next decade, he performed in many diverse musical contexts, working with
Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, McCoy Tyner, Hank Jones, Nancy Wilson, Tania Maria, Ray Barreto, the All Star groups “Steps Ahead”
and “New Directions” and many others, as well as on GRAMMY®-winning recordings with Chick Corea.

EDDIE GOMEZ, Steve Gadd, and Richard Stoltzman are Special Guest Artists with Mika Yoshida (2008)

In the classical music world, Eddie has been a guest artist with The Kronos Quartet, Tashi Ensemble, Japanese marimbist Mika Yoshida and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. His recordings with Stoltzman have included “Begin Sweet World” and most recently “The Goldberg Variations” and other pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach. At Carnegie Recital Hall, Eddie premiered a musical piece written specifically for him by William Thomas McKinley.

In popular music, Eddie has performed and recorded with artists such as Bobby Darin, Tim Hardin, Carly Simon, Art Garfunkel, Mark Knoffler, Michael Franks, Judy Collins and Jennifer Holliday. He has also been a member of “The Gadd Gang,” Steve Gadd’s
All Star R&B/jazz band.

Today, Eddie tours and records with his own group, which he formed in 1992 with pianist Stefan Karlson and legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb. The group’s recordings include “Live in Japan,” “Dedication” and “Uptown Music.” He is composing for
his own projects as well as for film and television most notably for the prize-winning William Steig animation, “The Amazing Bone.” Eddie Gomez continues to enjoy an active, international career as a performer, recording artist, composer, educator and featured guest artist on many high profile projects.

Eddie's recent recording “Duets,” co-led with Carlos Franzetti on piano, won Best Instrumental Album at the 10th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards. His recordings as a leader include “Next Future,” “Outlaws,” “Live in Moscow,” “Street Smart,” “Power Play,” “Mezgo,” “Discovery,” “Gomez,” “Down Stretch,” “What’s New at F, “Palermo” and “Trio.” The recordings feature guest artists including Michael Brecker,Richard Tee, Randy Brecker, Al Foster, Steve Gadd, Chick Corea, Jeremy Steig, Jack McDuff and John Abercrombie. His recordings co-led with pianist Mark Kramer include “Entropy,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Art of the Heart.” In 2006, his DVD “An Evening with Eddie Gomez” was released – with Eddie and Mark Kramer performing and lecturing on the intricacies and dynamics of improvisation.

A sought-after educator, Eddie is Artistic Director at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico where he has been professor and artist-in-residence since 2005. He has been artist-in-residence and associate professor of jazz double bass at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and recently was resident artist at Stanford University, North Texas State University, Georgia State University, Jacksonville University,
and the prestigious Berklee College of Music. He gives master classes at many of the major universities and conservatories throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and South America.

Eddie Gomez continues to enjoy an active, international career as a performer, recording artist, composer, educator and featured guest artist on many high profile projects.

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (November) - Miguel Zenon

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Month (November) - Miguel Zenon

"This young musician and composer is at once reestablishing the artistic, cultural, and social tradition of jazz while creating an entirely new jazz language for the 21st century.”

-- MacArthur Foundation,2008.



Multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American Folkloric Music and Jazz.



His latest recording, Alma Adentro (Marsalis Music, 2011), is a tribute to The Puerto Rican Songbook. On it he arranges and explores the music of five legendary Puerto Rican composers: Bobby Capó, Tite Curet Alonso, Pedro Flores, Rafael Hernández, and Sylvia Rexach (whom he considers “the George Gershwins, Cole Porters and Jerome Kerns of Puerto Rican song”). The recording features his longtime working quartet of pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Henry Cole, plus a ten piece woodwind ensemble orchestrated and conducted by close friend and collaborator Guillermo Klein. This groundbreaking project both honors the music of these masters while at the same time exposing their music to new audiences.



Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón studied classical saxophone at the Escuela Libre de Música in Puerto Rico before receiving a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies from Berklee College of Music, and a master’s degree in Jazz Performance at Manhattan School of Music. Zenón’s more formal studies, however, are supplemented and enhanced by his vast and diverse experience as a sideman and collaborator. Throughout his career he has divided his time equally between working with older jazz masters and working with the music’s younger innovators --irrespective of styles and genres. The list of musicians Zenón has toured and/or recorded with includes: Charlie Haden, David Sánchez, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Guillermo Klein y los Guachos, The Mingus Big Band, Bobby Hutcherson and Steve Coleman. He has also participated in recent projects with Adam Cruz, Antonio Sánchez, Jason Linder, Miles Okazaki, Kenny Werner, David Gilmore and Aaron Goldberg.



He is a founding member of the groundbreaking 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. In 2012, Zenón’s association with SFJAZZ will further expand to include his new role as resident artistic director along with Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, Regina Carter and John Santos.

Zenón’s six recordings as a leader (including the above mentioned Alma Adentro) represent not only his growth as a musician, but also his ability to constantly evolve and reinvent himself as a conceptualist and producer.



His debut CD, Looking Forward (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2002), represents a snapshot of the very eclectic musical interests of the then 24 year old musician, and was selected by the New York Times as the number one “alternative” jazz recording of 2002.


His second recording as a leader, Ceremonial (Marsalis Music, 2004), was described by All About Jazz as a “ head on crash of Latin, Jazz and Classical traditions--modern Jazz at it’s very best, ” and garnered unanimous critical praise and recognition both within and outside the jazz world.



Jíbaro (Marsalis Music, 2005), his third recording, was further proof that all the critical praise he had been receiving was well deserved. The recording is an exploration of a style of popular Puerto Rican folk music known as La Música Jíbara. The Chicago Tribune summed it up best when they wrote: “The instrumental prowess of Zenon's playing, the vigor of his compositions and the sensitivity of his band to Puerto Rican song forms point to new possibilities in jazz.” Like his previous recordings, Jíbaro was uniformly well received and appeared on many top ten lists including The New York Times, Latin Beat, El Nuevo Día, and the Chicago Tribune.



Decidedly more personal and introspective, Awake (Marsalis Music, 2008) incorporates a string quartet and additional horns to Zenón's core group and brings to the forefront his formidable skills as a writer and arranger. As was admirably put in Audiophile Audition: “ This is an album far beyond the usual sax & string outing, revealing a unique statement that communicates passion, intellect and spirit to the listener." Awake also caught the attention of the international press, garnering it 5 star reviews and top honors in publications like Jazzwise (UK), Jazz Man (France) and Jazz Magazine (France).



Zenón returned to his Puerto Rican roots for inspiration in his next outing, Esta Plena (Marsalis Music, 2009), which draws from the traditional Plena music style of his home country and was supported by a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. On it Zenón augmented his quartet to include three percussionists/vocalists and took on the additional roles of both lyricist and vocalist. Jazz Times wrote that Esta Plena is “…music with integrity, energy, poise and a fresh vision of how the Afro-Caribbean jazz aesthetic can evolve without losing its deep roots." In addition to being hailed by critics (New York Times, Village Voice, El Nuevo Día , Downbeat, The Chicago Tribune ) as one of the best recordings of 2009, the recording earned Zenón two Grammy nominations (one for Best Improvised solo and one for Best Latin Jazz Recording of the year) as well as a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Latin Jazz Recording of the year.



As a composer he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, The New York State Council for the Arts, Chamber Music America, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Jazz Reach, Montclair University, and many of his peers.







He has been featured in articles on publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, Jazz Times, Jazziz, Boston Globe, Billboard, Newsday, Details, as well as gracing the cover of Downbeat Magazine and the Swiss jazz magazine, Jazz N More. He has also toped the Rising Star Alto Sax category of the Downbeat Critic's Poll on four different occasions.



Zenon’s biography would not be complete without discussing his role as an educator. In 2003, he was chosen by the Kennedy Center to teach and perform in West Africa as part of their Jazz Ambassador program. Since then, he has given hundreds of lectures and master classes and has taught all over the world at institutions which include: The Banff Centre, Berklee College of Music, Siena Jazz, Conservatorium Van Amsterdam, Conservatoire de Paris, University of Manitoba, Manhattan School of Music, UMass-Amherst and the Brubeck Institute. He is also a permanent faculty member at New England Conservatory of Music. But perhaps what best reflects his commitment to education and cements his growing reputation as a "cultural ambassador", is a program that he founded in 2011, called Caravana Cultural.



The main purpose of Caravana Cultural is to present free Jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico. The program makes a "cultural investment" in the Island by giving these communities a chance to listen to jazz of the highest caliber (Zenón invites some of the best musicians in the New York jazz scene to perform as guests), while at the same time getting young Puerto Rican musicians actively involved in the concert activities. Starting in February 2011 and continuing through 2013, Zenón will present a concert every four months. Each concert focuses on the music of a specific jazz legend (Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, among others) and is preceded by a pre-concert presentation which touches on the basic elements of jazz and improvisation. Over the last six years Zenón has also personally organized "Jazz Jam Sessions" in the area of San Juan, as a way of creating a platform for younger jazz musicians to grow and interact with one another.

In 2008 he was selected as one of 25 distinguished individuals to receive the prestigious and coveted MacArthur Fellowship, more commonly known as the "Genius Grant”.

Zenón lives in New York City with his wife Elga.

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Week (july 31 - august 6) - Carolina Ferrer

BIO/DISCOGRAPHIE - CARO FERRER – 1er et 2è album
Em seu novo disco, "Samba pelo avesso", Caro Ferrer homenageia o samba,
desdobrando-o em todas as suas variações. São onze novas canções – todas autorais – que navegam do samba-blues ao samba funk, passando pelo côco e o samba de roda ou
cruzando o afoxé com o cha cha cha. Assinando a direção musical com ela, Jorginho Amorim, parceiro de estrada.

O disco é um segundo mergulho nessa praia por onde Caro passeia, escapando das
facilidades da bossa-nova sussurrada e do samba cliquante. O primeiro foi em 2009, com "Jasmim no ar", que despertou a atenção dos grandes nomes da comunidade musical
franco-brasileira para seu timbre, a um so tempo suave e grave, e o balanço do seu fraseado.

As letras abrem o pano para o um universo muito feminino – jasmim, mar, maternidade,
temperos, perfumes de gavetas, bordados, velas, véus, missangas e espelhos. Um "neosurrealismo" de rimas fortes, dito com convicção. A poesia de Caro começa então a letrar melodias de Marcio Faraco, Jorginho Amorim, Adriano Tenorio, Aline de Lima e outros.

Em "Samba pelo avesso" ela nos apresenta sua visão musical sem fronteiras numa seleta
escolha de estilos, certeira na mistura, na dosagem e na unidade. Suas letras, também sem fronteiras, espelham aversão à categorização e ao rotulo e o resultado é um groove percussivo, inventivo e invertido, cheio de surpresas. E sem maionese.
Caro embarca o publico com sua presença intensa e sua voz "blues" e vem levantando as
salas por onde passa - Comedy Club, Blue Note, L'Entrepot, etc. Mas ha quem prefira ouvi-la de olhos fechados, como o parceiro Marcio Faraco..

Manager : Barbara Waechter
tél. : +33 (0)6 62 43 94 83
@ : barbara.w.waechter@gmail.com

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Week (july 17 - 23) - Chucho Valdes

Jazz and Bossa Artist of the Week (july 17 - 23) - Chucho Valdes

Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger Chucho Valdes is a highly accomplished and influential figure in the world of Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz. Born in Quivican in 1941, Valdes is the son of the similarly influential Cuban bandleader Bebo Valdes from whom Chucho first received piano lessons. Having exhibited musical talent from a young age, Valdes eventually enrolled in the Municipal Music Conservatory of Havana, graduating at age 14. Inspired by such jazz pianists as Art Tatum and Thelonious Monk, Valdes quickly formed his first jazz trio and began a fruitful period that found him landing several high-profile performance jobs in hotels around Havana including performing with the Sabor De Cuba Orchestra which was directed by his father. These performances continued throughout the '60s and allowed Valdes not only to perform with the best musicians in Cuba, but begin to formulate his own unique ideas about mixing jazz, classical and Cuban styles of music. In 1970, Valdes and his combo became the first Cuban jazz group to perform abroad after appearing at the Jazz Jamboree International Jazz Festival in Poland.

In 1973, formed the innovative and highly influential Latin jazz ensemble Irakere. The group featured various members of the Orquesta Nacional de Musica Moderna including such stars of the Cuban music scene as trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and alto saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera. With its unique mix of jazz, rock, funk, classical and traditional Cuban rhythms, Irakere was an explosive and creative ensemble that quickly caught the attention of international audiences. Although there have been many compilations of Irakere, it was the band's Grammy winning 1979 self-titled concert album, recorded at the Newport Jazz Festival a year before, that really sparked international interest in the group. Although the band's line-up has changed over the years -- D'Rivera defected to the United States in 1980 and Sandoval (who did not defect until 1990) formed his own group in 1981 -- Irakere continues to perform and record with Valdes and new members.

Although Valdes never left Cuba, the four-time Grammy winning and three-time Latin Grammy winning virtuoso has kept a high-profile touring schedule and in 2006 was named the Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Since the '80s, Valdes has released a steady flow of albums including 1986's Lucumi (Messidor), 1998's Bele Bele en la Habana (Blue Note), 2000's Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note), 2002's Fantasia Cubana: Variations on Classical Themes (Blue Note) and 2010's Chucho's Steps.