Pure curiosity

Talking process with jazz composer Miguel Zenón

Miguel Zenón has been crushing it since the late ‘90s. 

An inspired saxophonist, exacting composer and community-minded intellectual, Zenón’s  efforts over the last two decades have catapulted the San Juan native to the highest echelon of jazz experimentalists. His work at the intersection of contemporary jazz and Puerto Rican musical history has earned numerous accolades, including multiple Grammy nominations and prestigious MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, making him a celebrated name among listeners worldwide. And even still, with his quartet’s latest record, Sonero: The Music of Ismael Rivera, it’s clear his star is still on the rise. 

I had a chance to nerd out with Zenón in advance of his quartet’s upcoming fall tour. We discussed the new record as well as his thoughts on arranging, collaboration and lifelong learning before his performance at Duet Jazz in Tulsa on Nov. 15. 

*  *  *

Jonathan Leal: Let’s start with your quartet’s latest record, Sonero: The Music of Ismael Rivera. Would you walk me through the project and where the idea came from?

Miguel Zenón: Of course. So, Sonero is our tribute to a very well-known singer from Puerto Rico, Ismael Rivera, who totally revolutionized Latin American music starting in the late ‘50s through the early ‘80s. He was part of a very well-known ensemble in Puerto Rico called Cortijo y su Combo which was led by Rafael Cortijo, another legendary musician from Puerto Rico. Amongst other things, they were the first band to bring traditional Afro-Puerto Rican bomba and plena to the forefront of the musical mainstream. They were also one of the first bands who were almost exclusively all Afro-Puerto Rican. Eventually, Ismael went on his own and created his own legendary career, and he became a kind of cultural icon—not only in Puerto Rico, but also in places like Panama, Venezuela, Colombia. My parents exposed me to Rivera’s music when I was a kid, and I’ve felt very close to it ever since—his voice, the way he expresses himself, the music itself. When I became a musician, it was only natural to follow that interest. And the time for this project felt right.

Leal: So, as much as it’s an intensely personal tribute, Sonero is also the product of deep research, yeah?

Zenón: Yes. As you know, a lot of my projects start out as pure research. I go out and search for information, material that can lead me to new musical ideas. And Sonero was no different, because I had been thinking about Rivera’s music, working on different arrangements here and there. Once I started to build up a repertoire, I realized that it could be a full project. I started putting these arrangements together and playing them with the band, and once it felt right, it was the next thing.

Leal: Brings to mind that Zora Neale Hurston line: “Research is formalized curiosity.” 

Zenón: Yeah. A lot of times, us musicians are really just starting from our own curiosities, our own vague ideas about what it is we think we want to pursue, and then that kind of leads into these formal projects or other things. And also, sometimes it doesn’t. Where sometimes you gather the information, and it builds into something … other times, it’s just researching for the sake of knowing. … But then, even that might eventually become something. That’s what I’ve come to realize the more I get into all of these research projects. Learning is a never-ending journey if you really want it to be. 

Leal: Speaking of learning, would you mind walking me through your process of arranging and re-composing Rivera’s songs? You take the original materials to such remarkably different places. 

Zenón: You know, one of the things that makes Rivera’s music especially challenging to arrange is that it’s deeply popular music. A lot of people already know these songs really, really well. … And they can relate to them in a very personal way. So, when you’re dealing with that kind of thing, you run into this question of, ‘In your version, how much do you want to push it? What kind of balance do you want to create between the original elements and the elements that are new and your own?’ That’s always what I’m dealing with. How am I going to build on this original and not have my version sound like a replica? 

Usually … I take elements out of the original—elements that I identify with. So, from the original arrangement, the original song—in the case of this record, that element might be anything from a bass line to a horn figure to a percussion break to something that Rivera sang or improvised. And then, I’ll extract those elements, and with them, I’ll build my own version of the piece. So, if you’re listening and know the songs well, you’ll be able to recognize the elements here and there. But, at the same time, it’ll be pretty obvious that you’re listening to something new, not a replica. That’s the most honest way I can think to do it. 

Also, when you’re writing an arrangement and actually deciding how it’s going to come together, what the balance is going to be—it’s very personal. In my case, playing with the same guys for a while, they kind of already know. When they hear the new stuff, they know what I’m after, they know what to expect. And in this case, they knew Rivera’s original tunes. So that made it all easier. 

Leal: Let’s talk a little about your band. You’ve been playing together for many years. How have you managed to keep pushing and supporting each other?

Zenón: To be honest, I’ve just been lucky. You know, back in the day, bands would stay together for a really long time. It wasn’t rare. Nowadays, it’s not common at all. And it’s not the sort of thing the jazz world expects. They expect the opposite from artists, actually: a new project every time, with a brand-new band, a whole new sound. And with me—I just found musicians that I liked, personally and musically, and it made sense … I feel like I’ve been lucky, because I found people that I like. And they must like me, at least a little bit—you know, to be around me for this long. 

Leal: I wanted to ask you briefly about your improvisations. Did you feel Rivera’s own vocal improvisations guiding any of your solos on Sonero?

Zenón: I would definitely say there was some connection there. But it’s a little complicated. First off, we have to remember the language that the quartet’s dealing with, especially creatively: the jazz language. So … while a lot of those “elements” for the new arrangements come from Rivera’s music, the band is still communicating using that jazz language. Now in my case, at least, there are certain moments in the new arrangements—it might be a harmonic cadence or a polyrhythmic idea—that naturally open the door into the musical world of salsa, Rivera’s world. And because all of us in the band, especially Luis and myself, started by playing Puerto Rican music, when we improvise, and those little doors open, we just walk right through them. There are a lot of spots on Sonero where that definitely happened. And with the way these arrangements are put together, with the saxophone taking on the role of Rivera’s vocals, a lot of times, when I was playing the melodies or interpreting certain ideas, I could hear his words in my head. And with all that, I thought: “How can I use this as a springboard for something new?”

Leal: Looking ahead now to your fall tour, what are you most excited about?

Zenón: Well, it’s always great to play. But also, when you work on these kinds of projects, it’s hard not to feel a certain sense of responsibility, as a Puerto Rican. You’re taking these sounds to listeners who might not be familiar with them already. We’re going out there, paying tribute to Ismael Rivera, and some people at the concerts don’t know who he is, you know. They haven’t heard his music yet. And so I feel that part of the reason I’m doing this, on top of everything you and I have talked about … is really this responsibility to go out there and “preach the gospel,” so to speak. ‘There’s this information out there. I want you to know about it. Hopefully this new music will help spark your own research, your own curiosity.’ 

*  *  *

Miguel Zenón
Duet Jazz, 108 N. Detroit Ave. 
Friday, Nov. 15, 8 p.m.
$25 (ages 21+)