Alto saxophonist, composer, and bandleader
Miguel Zenon has focused his studies of Latin and Caribbean musics in a labyrinthine conversation with jazz throughout his career. The quartet's last album, 2019's wonderful
Sonero, was dedicated to music associated with salsa singer and composer
Ismael Rivera. Enabling
Zenon's vision are his longstanding bandmates: drummer
Henry Cole, pianist
Luis Perdomo, and bassist
Hans Glawischnig.
Musica de las Americas also employs percussion quintet
Los Pleneros De La Cresta and other guests in a work about the history of the American continent in pre- and post-Columbian eras.
Opener "Tainos y Caribes" reflects the contrasts between the cultures of the peace-loving Taino people and their warrior rivals, the Caribe. Both were eliminated through colonization. An agitated piano vamp with strong Latin accents introduces
Zenon and
Cole responding with boppish statements, and
Perdomo's solo is fleet, incisive, and authoritative.
Zenon delivers a knotty,
Charlie Parker-esque solo before returning to the melody. Single "Nevegando (Los Estrellas Nos Guian)" meditates on Caribbean sailors in canoes who navigated solely by the stars. A bell-like piano intro is appended by bass and whispering cymbals. Percussionists enter, establishing the rhythmic flow before
Zenon glides through the melody and indulges in a swinging, riveting solo and a soulful group chant. "Opresion y Revolucion" offers complex polyrhythms in evoking the Haitian Revolution and the influence of its vodou music. Guest percussionist
Paoli Mejias converses with
Perdomo in a harmonically advanced, ferociously percussive attack. The stately opening of "Imperios" is processional, meant to evoke the empires of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas and their many cultural and scientific achievements. The lilting melody dictates
Zenon's solo, punctuated by a rhythm section that envelops him in flow while stretching the frame; it allows the saxophonist to alternate between fiery single lines and phrases that syncopate the rhythm's beats. "Venus Abiertas" references
Eduardo Galeano's seminal book Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of Pillage of a Continent about the exploitation of South America's natural resources.
Perdomo offers a spare, mournful reflection of the title.
Zenon echoes it on entrance, but quickly changes direction as his alto screams, evoking the rage, panic, and fear of a plundering that continues today. "Babula" features guest percussionist
Victor Emmanuelli. The slippery, pronounced rhythms and labyrinthine melody are articulated by the saxophonist and the pianist. They reflect a dance brought to the Americas by African slaves; the same rhythm, called habanera, is used in much of today's Latin American music. Closer "Antillano" is titled after residents of the Antilles.
Zenon merges past and present with a distinctively celebratory Latin-Caribbean groove. Guest conguero
Daniel Diaz assists the quartet in navigating shifting tempos and complex meters even as the band flows with lyric joy.
Musica de las Americas is
Zenon's crowning achievement as a composer and bandleader. While the ambition of the project could easily have filled several albums and derailed a lesser talent, in his hands it is a commanding statement on history, tragedy, revolution, evolution, and the continued struggle for self-determination and dignity. ~ Thom Jurek
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