BALTIMORE - “Creative differences” is the usual reason given to the press when artists and performers suddenly depart a musical group, movie or TV show.
Producer Bernard Lyons of the 2007 jazz series Creative Differences, however, is about celebrating diversity, bringing together rather than breaking up. And the opening concert of his series features one of the premier groups on the world jazz scene, The Miguel Zenon 4TET.
“My series features a wide range of world jazz,” said Lyons, who showcases the group this Friday in its Baltimore debut at An Die Musik. “And Miguel’s become a name to watch.”
A 30-year-old composer and alto saxophonist, Miguel Zenon is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico. After graduating from Boston’s Berklee School of Music, he became active in the area’s jazz scene before receiving a masters in Saxophone Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in 2001.
The formation of a quartet, world travel, participation in the San Francisco Jazz Festival and two recorded albums all contributed to lighting his candle in the jazz world.
Now, all past experiences culminate in “Jibaro,” pronounced she-ba-ro.
“It’s a Puerto Rican term that goes back to the 17th century,” Zenon said. “It describes the poor people [there] who live in rural areas — their food, their culture, their music.”
The music, he explained, is traditional, with African influences and definitely Spanish and Arabic. There is less percussion and more emphasis on strings. Lyrics are the heart of the style. It is on his latest album, titled “Jibaro,” that Zenon fuses the style with world music, “not straight-ahead jazz [but] a lot of improvisation,” he noted.
Zenon performs with his bass player Hans Glawischnig, Henry Cole on drums and Luis Perdomo at the piano.
Perdomo, who has performed in Baltimore, loves the audiences, finding them receptive to world jazz.
“We want people to hear ‘Jibaro’,” he said. “So the bulk of our show will be from the new album.”
Zenon considers the music an “honest language.”
“I hope that it will inspire positive thoughts,” he said. “That’s all you can ask for.”
Miguel Zenon 4TET
When: Friday at 8 and 10 p.m.
Venue: An die Musik LIVE!
409 N. Charles St., Baltimore
Tickets: $20/$18 students and seniors
More info: 410-385-2638
http://www.examiner.com/a-527651~United_in_jazz.html
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