Album Review: Miguel Zenón's 'Alma Adentro

With Alma Adentro, saxophonist Miguel Zenón extends his ongoing project to document his reinterpretations of traditional Latin music. On Jíbaro (Marsalis Music 2005), the Puerto Rican native based his compositions on the music of rural Puerto Rico. The album helped earn Zenón a MacArthur grant, with which he funded Esta Plena (Marsalis Music, 2009). On it, he incorporates plena into his sharp compositions. On Alma Adentro, Zenón turns to the music of Puerto Rican songwriters the way jazz musicians have mined for inspiration among the works of Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, and George Gershwin for decades.

Each track on Alma Adentro is an arrangement of a song by one of five of the most well known Puerto Rican songwriters from the 1920s to the 1970s. The songs are rooted in bolero, and capture the style’s earthy romanticism while recasting them in a more rhythmically complex mold. Composer Guillermo Klein orchestrated Zenón’s compositions with a flute-heavy ten-piece wind ensemble, creating a florid frame for each piece.

Alma Adentro marks an advancement in Zenón’s saxophone playing. On previous albums, there is a noticeable lack of humor in his playing, and his intensity is sometimes overcooked, marked by occasionally strident vibrato and pinched tone. Here he is vaguely emulating popular crooners of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, and therefore he's more tethered to a voice-like sound. His tone is richer and rounder than usual. His flawless technique, the effort behind which used to be apparent, is now fluid.

Fans of the darkly contemplative mood Zenón is so adept at manufacturing won’t be unsatisfied. His no-nonsense approach remains, but within it are a range of emotions. Perhaps this is a result of his focus on bolero, whose formal structures, meant to inspire dancing, are built upon contrasting levels of energy. Compare the first two tracks on the album. “Juguette” and “Incomprendido,” both by crooner and composer Bobby Capó. The former expresses measured joy and buoyancy, while the latter (the title of which translates to “misunderstood”) is steeped in self-pitying lament. Aside from a few flourishes, Zenón’s lines are understated and perfectly singable.

Guillermo Klein’s involvement is effective in evoking subtle yet sultry pop music sounds from days of yore. On tracks like “Silencio” by Rafael Hernández, and “Tiemblas” by Tite Curet Alonso, the wind ensemble is almost ghost like, barely perceptible, and yet offers striking shades to the palette. The arrangements, although often low in the mix, are certainly not superfluous. However, a higher profile could have brought even more soul to Alma Adentro.

Release Date:

August 30th, 2011 on Marsalis Music

Personnel:

• Miguel Zenón – Alto Saxophone, Arrangements
• Luis Perdomo – Piano
• Hans Glawischnig – Bass
• Henry Cole – Drums
• Guillermo Klein – Conductor
• Nathalie Joachim – Flute
• Domenica Fossati – Flute
• Julietta Curenton – Flute
• Romie de Guise-Langlois – Clarinet
• Carol McGonnell – Bass Clarinet & Clarinet
• James Austin Smith – Oboe
• Brad Balliett – Bassoon
• Keve Wilson – English Horn
• Jennifer Kessler – French Horn
• David Byrd-Marrow – French Horn

Track List:

1. Juguete
2. Incomprendido
3. Silencio
4. Temes
5. Perdón
6. Alma Adentro
7. Olas y Arenas
8. Amor
9. Perfume de Gardenias
10. Tiemblas