Miguel Zenon

Miguel Zenon won an MacArthur Fellowship this year

“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.

If that is not accomplishment enough, earlier this year he also won the Guggenheim Fellowship for Music Composition.
His music is not something that you can describe generically, although there are definite markings from both Jazz and classical music.
Although Zenon was exposed to Jazz in high school, he was not trained in it until he attended the Berkly School of music.

I have only listen to small pieces of his latest album Awakening, but Kellen from Song With Orange has is a long standing fan and says

The first thing that struck me about this album is Zen?n’s compositional depth and breadth. Listening to “Awakening,” the opener, segue into “Camar?n,” it’s clear he has a gift not only for beautiful playing but also for different approaches to songwriting. Harmony, melody, and structure are all solidly conceived for every piece. His full-bodied, fluid alto sound blends wonderfully with a couple lush string quartet arrangements, and the headier numbers feature some incredible quartet interplay. Those familiar with Zen?n will recognize Luis Perdomo’s prodigious pianistics, and bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Henry Cole create a bold, new universe of grooves with the leader’s fertile compositions.

Since Christmas is coming up soon, I might just add this album to my wish list.

The making of Awake part1

The making of awake part 2