The alto saxophonist and MacArthur Fellow reflects on his quartet's first live recording, captured at New York's Village Vanguard after two decades of collaboration and hundreds of performances worldwide.
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Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón.
A MacArthur Fellow, Guggenheim recipient, and Grammy winner, Miguel has spent over two decades creating music that connects jazz tradition with Puerto Rican rhythms and modern composition.
He's here to talk about his latest release, Vanguardia Subterránea - his quartet's first live album, captured at the Village Vanguard with musicians he's played with for twenty years. Miguel and I first spoke in 2011 about his dual roles as an artist and an educator. Now, fourteen years later, we pick up that conversation as he reflects on what it means to document this long-running musical partnership in one of jazz's most sacred spaces.
(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Miguel Zenón’s album Vanguardia Subterránea)
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[00:01:15] Looking back at 2011 - Alma Adentro and filling in the holes
[00:04:13] Research as musical practice
[00:06:12] The joy of being surprised by music
[00:08:39] Why document the quartet live at the Village Vanguard
[00:12:14] The Vanguard as the ideal environment for creative music
[00:14:19] "Abre Cuto Güiri Mambo" - open your ears and hear this
[00:16:09] "Coordenadas" - encoding the band's geography into sound
[00:19:22] Approaching the Puerto Rican songbook
[00:23:16] Personal stories in "Vita" and "Bendición"
[00:27:53] Writing lyrics in Spanish as a compositional tool
[00:29:12] Collaboration and chemistry in the quartet
[00:34:50] Writing for specific projects vs writing freely
[00:36:28] The Golden City project and the immigrant experience
[00:41:13] The artist's responsibility in times of struggle
[00:43:33] Returning to the Vanguard and favorite live albums
[00:45:28] The peak of Coltrane at the Vanguard
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Visit Miguel Zenón at https://miguelzenon.com
and follow him on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/miguelzenonmusic
Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/miguelzenon
YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/user/miguelzenon
and Bandcamp → https://miguelzenon.bandcamp.com
Purchase Miguel Zenón Quartet's Vanguardia Subterránea: Live at The Village Vanguard from Bandcamp → https://miguelzenon.bandcamp.com/album/vanguardia-subterr-nea-live-at-the-village-vanguard
or Qobuz → https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/vanguardia-subterranea-live-at-the-village-vanguard-miguel-zenon-quartet/o2ak5xdhh97qc
and listen on your streaming platform of choice → https://orcd.co/vanguardiasubterranea
For extensive show notes, links, and podcast information, go to https://podcast.thetonearm.com
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