Internationally Renowned Saxophonist/Composer Miguel Zenón
Earns 2018 Grammy Nomination for “Best Latin Jazz Album”
Zenón’s album Típico celebrates his longstanding quartet
"One of the great jazz discs of the year…." – Jeff Simon, Buffalo News
4-stars. "Zenón's appreciation for intricacy always creates sparks, but it's his buoyancy that keeps things intriguing. That balance is everywhere on one of his most engaging adventures... insightful, passionate, and don't sound quite like anyone else in Latin, jazz, or their hyphenate."
— Jim Macnie, DownBeat
4-stars. “Zenón himself has one of the most instantly distinctive sounds in jazz today, as has his band...An enthralling recording by a great group." — Tony Hall, Jazzwise Magazine
"Típico is a portrait of a band lost in thought with smiles on their faces as they reach that elusive moment when it all comes together and they are thinking, and playing, as one." – Felix Contreras, NPR
"I am extremely excited and honored to receive this nomination along with such a distinguished group of musicians,” says Zenón. “I look forward to attending the ceremony in January.”
A multiple Grammy nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow, Zenón is one of a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, Zenón 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. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has recorded and toured with a wide variety of musicians including Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Bobby Hutcherson and Steve Coleman and is a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective.
Zenón’s past several releases have generally fleshed out his quartet with additional instrumentalists as Zenón has looked outward to explore various aspects of his Puerto Rican heritage. Típico is more intimate. Its focus stays closer to home, with nods to Zenón’s own personal and professional life as it zeroes in on what makes his band unique.
“I was thinking about what this band and the guys in the band mean to me as I was writing the music,” he explains. “I kept going back to this idea of us developing this common language that identifies us as a band.”
“‘Típico’ refers to something that’s customary to a region or a group of people,” Zenón says. “Or something that can be related to a specific group of people. And when I was writing the music, I was thinking about music that identified us and this band.”
Each of the album’s final three tracks, Zenón notes, was composed around a solo or signature rhythmic line that one of the band members had played before. “My approach was more systematic on those three compositions specifically. But the whole record essentially is about representing the sound of the band. The sound of our band.”
Típico has received extensive critical acclaim:
Editor’s Pick: “Típico is a welcome showcase for Miguel Zenón’s longstanding, yeoman quartet.... shorn of any sidemen or abiding thematic adornment, the distinctive character, energy and joy of their interaction—their sheer jazz—is spectacular.... Típico eschews grand themes for ensemble intimacy, but Zenón’s latest triumph is no less resonant.” – Britt Robson, JazzTimes
“Típico, Zenón’s new album, is a dedicatory project that celebrates the unity and invention of the alto saxophonist’s longtime quartet, now approaching its second decade as a fierce modernist ensemble. The leader’s lapel-grabbing playing may remain the focus, but his bandmates the pianist Luis Perdomo, the bassist Hans Glawischnig, and the drummer Henry Cole having thoroughly absorbed Zenón’s integration of Latin musical sources and jazz, are invaluable contributors, each worthy of his obvious pride. – Steve Futterman, The New Yorker
“...one of the standout jazz albums of 2017.... Their decade together has given them a rare degree of sensitivity and understanding that greatly enhances their work. And their shared sense of purpose results in a keen musical focus that illuminates their aural excursions.” – George Varga, San Diego Tribune
Editor’s Pick: “On Típico high points arrive as sure as the sun on each of the eight tracks on the album.... [Zenón’s] melodic and extended improvisational lines contain qualities allied to a personality of exceptional purity, muscularity and creative intelligence.” – Raul da Gama, Jazz Global Media
“After using his last few albums to elaborate on the musical folklore of his native Puerto Rico, Zenon designed Típico without a conceptual framework, instead opting to simply show off what it means when a band locks in and fires on all cylinders.... All eight pieces are tricky in their own way, but in the end Zenon proves his point: his technical dexterity and virtuosic flash never undermine the fiery group interplay.” – Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
“...at the core Zenon's ensemble is defined by the translucency of its tone, the alacrity of its approach to rhythm and the intimacy of Zenon's solos on alto saxophone.” – Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
“…this is exactly how a quartet should sound. It’s inventive, exciting, powerful, intriguing and thoughtful in turns. The band seem to employ their own unique musical language, creating a distinctive feel and sound through the obvious kinship and music they are performing...this recording can be easily summed as this; thoroughly fluent, mouth-watering modern jazz.” – Mike Gates, UK Vibe
"Alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón has maintained one of jazz' steadiest working units for well over a decade...While the quartet is back down to its core, it has never sounded so huge. The music rushes forth in a near-blizzard of rhythmic detail and yet conveys looseness and breath-in a word, alma (soul)...galloping rhythmic twists; gorgeous modern harmony; and relentlessly difficult ensemble writing that somehow always sounds unruffled." - David Adler, NYC Jazz Record
4 stars: “The pure-toned alto saxophonist continues to explore his Puerto Rican heritage through the prism of jazz with this beautifully crafted set of originals.... Each track bursts to the seams with intimate dialogue and finessed technique, and with Zenon in peak form and pianist Luis Perdomo a match, the blend of Latin music and jazz is unusually complete.” – Mike Hobart, Financial Times
“...one of [Zenón’s] most sophisticated collections yet of kinetic, genre-bending post-bop.” – Matt Collar, Allmusic.com
Winners will be announced at the Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday, January 28, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
