It was on Amazon's very helpful suggestion that I decided to give this dude a try. They probably figured I'd like his Latin-influenced sound on account of the fact that I'm known to be a huge fan of David Sánchez. The funny thing is, even though Miguel Zenón actually featured on a number of Sánchez's albums - albums that I own to boot - I would never have figured looking for his solo work on my own. I'm just not that sharp. Not anymore anyway. I put it down to old age. Ahem. Anyhoo, Amazon were smack on the money; I absolutely love this. The album is produced by Branford Marsalis, which is always a good sign. Zenón, who plays alto saxophone, sounds endearingly playful, yet eminently competent. All the songs are his and a rhythm section comprised of Luis Perdomo on piano & Fender Rhodes, Hans Glaswischnig (try saying THAT one six times quickly!) on bass and Henry Cole on drums and percussion, ably supports him. On "awakening - interlude" (which I found busy almost to the point of being noisy), Tony Malaby appears on tenor sax, Michael Rodriguez on trumpet and Ben Gerstein on trombone. The strings on "awakening - prelude" and "lamamilla" are performed by Judith Insell (viola), Orlando Wells (violin), Marlene Rice (violin) and Nioka Workman (cello).My favourite tracks are the quick-paced "penta" (listen out for Cole's amazing percussion work on that one), the sombre, piano-led ballad "the missing piece", the winding, multi-tempo, 12mins 3secs long "santo" (it even has vocals) and "lamamilla" (another sweet ballad, this time Rhodes-led).The only tune I still have some difficulty with is "awakening - interlude" but it's (mostly) all good. Apart from that one hiccup, it's a great set of jazz tunes. I'll definitely be buying more of Zenón's work. He's not only a gifted musician but he's cute too, which never hurts.4.5 stars.
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