jazzin magazine february 2015

Jazzin' P u e r t o R i c o J a z z G u i d e

CD REVIEWS:

MIGUEL ZENóN

R O Y M C G R A T H

B R E N D A H O P K I N S

Miguel Zenón: Identities are ChangeableInterview:

Brenda HopkinsMirandaS

ISSUE 01 / February 2015

Jazzin'RestaurantFeature:Doña AnaRestaurant

Jazzin' Puerto Rico Jazz Guide Publisher & Editor: Wilbert Sostre [email protected] Associate Editor: Wanda Borrero [email protected] Sales & Advertising: Julia Cabezudo [email protected], 787-518-3952 Wilbert Sostre [email protected], 787-942-9772 Contributing Photographers: Dwayne Hills, Wilbert Sostre. Felipe Torres Contributing Writers: Wilbert Sostre, Ann Braithwaite Subscriptions: 787-942-9772 Puerto Rico 1 Year (12 issues) $36 6 Months (6 issues) $18 USA 1 Year (12 issues) $50 6 Months (6 issues) $25 Jazzin' is published 12 times per year by Jazz and Bossa Media, PO Box 51062, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico 00950

Jazzin' Inside

5 Miguel Zenón's Identities The new Masterpiece by Master Saxophonist explores the Puerto Rican identity. 9 The Aeropiano of Brenda Hopkins Jazzin' interviews pianist/composer/ educator Brenda Hopkins Miranda. 11 Jazz Radio in Puerto Rico 12 Jazzin' Restaurant Profile: Doña Ana Restaurant 13 Jazzin' it up in Puerto Rico Where to go to listen to live Jazz 14 Jazzin' CD Reviews Jazzin' reviews new releases by Miguel Zenón, Brenda Hopkins and Roy McGrath

January 2015/ Issue 1Here it is at last! The first issue ofJazzin': Puerto Rico Jazz Guide. An ideaseveral years in the making, born outof the necessity for a publicationwhere to find what's going on in thePuerto Rico Jazz scene. In Jazzin' you will find articles,interviews, CDs & events reviews,where to go to listen to live jazz,

restaurant profiles, and jazz radio in Puerto Rico. Jazzin' welcomes your commentsand contributions. If you know of venues, events, musicians, radio shows thatshould be feature in Jazzin' Magazine, get in contact with us.

Jazzin' Inside




Jazzin' Inside




Miguel Zenón:Identities areChangeableOne of only a handful of jazz musicians tobe chosen for the coveted MacArthurfellowships (in 2008), he's at the forefrontof a new movement that in recent yearshas brought the composer to a newprominence in jazz. But beyond hisfacility at writing and playing music,there is a great intellectual subject at thecenter of Miguel Zenón's artistic world:the complexity of Puerto Rican culture. Beginning with his third album as aleader, Jíbaro (2005), and continuing withEsta Plena (2009) and Alma Adentro: ThePuerto Rican Songbook (2011) (bothGrammy-nominated), and Oye!!! Live InPuerto Rico (2013), Miguel Zenón hascreated a series of thoughtfully framedworks that interpret different facets ofPuerto Rican culture. Zenón's Puerto Ricois a bit like Gabriel García Márquez'sColombia or Gilberto Gil's Brazil: thehighly focused center of an imaginativeuniverse that looks to the world whilebeing rooted at home. It serves aspringboard for his personal style: no oneelse's Puerto Rico - and no one else's jazz- sounds like Miguel Zenón's.

Identities Are Changeable, Zenón's powerfulnew composition, is a song cycle for largeensemble, with his longtime quartet (LuisPerdomo, piano; Hans Glawischnig, bass;Henry Cole, drums) at the center,incorporating recorded voices from a seriesof interviews conducted by Zenón.Commissioned as a multi-media work byMontclair State University's PeakPerformances series, it has a multi-mediaelement with audio and video footage fromthe interviews, complemented by a videoinstallation created by artist DavidDempewolf. It's been performed at suchprestigious venues as the New EnglandConservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston, TheSFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, and ZankelHall in the Carnegie Hall complex in NewYork City. Information provided by Ann BraithwaiteBraithwaite & Katz Communications248 South Great RoadLincoln, MA 01773Ph: 781-259-9600Fax: 781-259-9606

MIGUEL ZENÓNIDENTITIES ARE CHANGEABLE

AN EXTENDED MUSICAL WORK FOR LARGE ENSEMBLE ABOUT

NATIONAL IDENTITY, AS EXPERIENCED BY THE PUERTO RICAN

COMMUNITY IN THE NEW YORK CITY AREA

Alto saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón asked his friends the question he had been asking himself: What does it mean to be Puerto Rican in 21st-century NewYork City? That was the point of departure for Identities Are Changeable,the startlingly original album by Miguel Zenón, who grew up inthe island's main city of San Juan and came to New York in 1998to pursue a career in music. Zenón's experience of moving via the air bridge from the smallAntillean island to the landing strip 1600 miles north issomething he shares with hundreds of thousands of other"Puerto Rican-New Yorkers." Puerto Ricans are not immigrants in the United States: for nearlya century - since 1917 - Puerto Ricans have, unlike other nativesof Latin America, been US citizens, able to come and go as theyplease between the island of Puerto Rico and the mainland.When they come north, overwhelmingly they go toNew York City. After different waves of migration over thedecades - most numerously in the 1950s - about 1.2 million"Puerto Rican-Americans" were living in the greater New Yorkarea as of 2012. Miguel Zenón has become one of jazz's mostoriginal thinkers. Today, at the age of 37, he's one ofthe best-known alto saxophonists in jazz. Thequartet he leads has been working together formore than ten years, building its ensemblecoherence on stages all over the world. But Zenón'smore than a great musician and bandleader.

Jazzin' Interviews: Brenda Hopkins Miranda

Wilbert Sostre: What I found interesting about Aeropiano is that is differentfrom your two previous recordings. And on this one I noticed you getting outand expressing all your experiences and influences. Even the African influenceof folkloric Puerto Rican Bomba, that it was not as clearly expressed in yourprevious recordings, can be heard in the very first track of this one. Brenda Hopkins Miranda: You always so perceptive. I feel that this is the CDwhere I achieve to include in one place precisely that, all my history, and myinfluences. They came together naturally, it wasn’t forced. In fact you can see inthe order of the album, it takes you in a voyage. Precisely one of the greatestsatisfactions about this album was that here the listener can find all thatrepresents me in one place. WS: The tittles seems to be related to places you've been. BHM: Some of the tittles are real places and others are imaginary places.Corozalendo is a reference to Corozal, Puerto Rico, where my family is from. LaCuesta de San Gregorio is a real place from my time living in Spain. El Puente delos Abrazos is an imaginary place, I always say that music is my way to embracepeople. When I play the piano I imagine this bridge coming out of me toembrace the people listening to my music. Hop Time is dedicated to my fatherpart of the family. Hop is short for the name Hopkins. For that composition I waslistening a lot to banjo music like Bela Fleck, and tried to find a way to play thepiano imitating the banjo. Seven Mile Road is the street where my grandfatherlived in Michigan, where my father grew up. Angela, Buscame en el Viento and Vincent are very special to me becauseAngela was my best friend in Spain, she was a poet, and last year she died of aheart attack. Vincent is her husband. She was only 57 years old. At the end ofthe track Angela, that is her reciting one of her poems. Buscame en el viento isthe moment that she dies because we said goodbye with the hope of reunitingin the future. And she always said that when she dies to look for her in thebreeze. When I recorded that one, I look to the engineers and they were crying.One of them ask me if that song was about somebody dying, without me tellingthem was the song was about. And then I knew that something special justhappened and that was the final take for that theme.

For the first issue of Jazzin' Magazine Isat down with pianist Brenda Hopkins totalk about her new album Aeropiano.

WS: That’s why I asked, because when listening to your music it is hard to separate the two. BHM: But to answer that we must have to go by each theme individually, because it is differenteach time. There are themes that the written part is minimal, for example El Puente de losAbrazos is a short melody and from that almost all the rest was improvised. Some of the themesare almost all written, but in all of them there is some improvisation because that is so importantto me. WS: How many takes of a theme you do in the recording studio?BHM: I try to not do more than two. Because I think by the third take the energy is not the same.And usually the first take is the best one. WS: Can you describe your creative process. How does it work? BHM: That is also different each time. There are times when things come all at once. And in halfhour you have the whole composition. For example, Buscame en el Viento the piano and cellomelodies came both at once, and I had to write fast so I didn’t lose it. Sometimes I start with thebass line, because I need that rhythmic foundation, bass and percussion and from there the restcomes out. Sometimes it comes with the title because is so link to an event. Sometimes the titlecomes after I listen to the music. For this CD I have a lot of material because ideas kept coming to me. At one time I was afraid ofbeing alone with the piano because all the compositions that were coming to me. At one point Isay, it is time to enter the recording studio because I already have lots of compositions. WS: Can you talk about the Living Creativity concept and articles? BHM: It started with my experience as a student. Like I said before, the way we are teachingmusic, we are not taking into consideration that music is an art form. That we must give peoplethe opportunity of self discovering. And we focused so much on rules, theory, on imitating thepast, which is important too. But there should be a better balance of all that.

BRENDAHOPKINSAEROPIANO

WS: I can see there are a lot more musicians on this one. Maybe it was necessary to express allthose influences. Some of them already worked with you in previous albums. BHM: Enrique “El Peru” playing the tablas, has been in the last three recordings, Hector Matoson drums was in Recuerdos de Granada, Bassist Egui Sierra is the first time I work with him. Isthe first time my brother Harold play in one of my recordings. And that was very special forme. I think there are three different groups in the CD and three different chapters. One is theone that includes the group of Tambores Calientes, with lots of percussion. Obviously once Ispend some time here in after coming back from Spain, I immerse myself again in thesonorities of Puerto Rico. There is the other group of drummer Hector Matos, bassist EguiSierra and Enrique. And there is another sound with the tablas and the cello. WS: So that’s what you refer to when talking about different chapters? In fact there morecompositions here compared with Recuerdos and Simple. BHM: Yes, there are 15 tracks. We recorded twenty three tracks in three days. I think we talkabout this before, how I like to record my albums live, to capture the conversation, all thespontaneous energy. The only one who recorded separately was the cellist. WS: I find it is better that way. BHM: Yes. With this kind of music that contains lots of improvisation, that interaction isnecessary. WS: Now that we are talking about this. When you are recording, how much is written and how muchis improvised? BHM: That varies from theme to theme. But, one thing I try to achieve with music is preciselythat people won’t notice which part was written and which part was improvised. For thatfrontier to not be completely clear. The improvisation melody comes from the compositionand viceversa.

WS: That’s why I asked, because when listening to your music it is hard to separate the two. BHM: But to answer that we must have to go by each theme individually, because it is differenteach time. There are themes that the written part is minimal, for example El Puente de losAbrazos is a short melody and from that almost all the rest was improvised. Some of the themesare almost all written, but in all of them there is some improvisation because that is so importantto me. WS: How many takes of a theme you do in the recording studio?BHM: I try to not do more than two. Because I think by the third take the energy is not the same.And usually the first take is the best one. WS: Can you describe your creative process. How does it work? BHM: That is also different each time. There are times when things come all at once. And in halfhour you have the whole composition. For example, Buscame en el Viento the piano and cellomelodies came both at once, and I had to write fast so I didn’t lose it. Sometimes I start with thebass line, because I need that rhythmic foundation, bass and percussion and from there the restcomes out. Sometimes it comes with the title because is so link to an event. Sometimes the titlecomes after I listen to the music. For this CD I have a lot of material because ideas kept coming to me. At one time I was afraid ofbeing alone with the piano because all the compositions that were coming to me. At one point Isay, it is time to enter the recording studio because I already have lots of compositions. WS: Can you talk about the Living Creativity concept and articles? BHM: It started with my experience as a student. Like I said before, the way we are teachingmusic, we are not taking into consideration that music is an art form. That we must give peoplethe opportunity of self discovering. And we focused so much on rules, theory, on imitating thepast, which is important too. But there should be a better balance of all that.

BRENDAHOPKINSAEROPIANO

WS: I can see there are a lot more musicians on this one. Maybe it was necessary to express allthose influences. Some of them already worked with you in previous albums. BHM: Enrique “El Peru” playing the tablas, has been in the last three recordings, Hector Matoson drums was in Recuerdos de Granada, Bassist Egui Sierra is the first time I work with him. Isthe first time my brother Harold play in one of my recordings. And that was very special forme. I think there are three different groups in the CD and three different chapters. One is theone that includes the group of Tambores Calientes, with lots of percussion. Obviously once Ispend some time here in after coming back from Spain, I immerse myself again in thesonorities of Puerto Rico. There is the other group of drummer Hector Matos, bassist EguiSierra and Enrique. And there is another sound with the tablas and the cello. WS: So that’s what you refer to when talking about different chapters? In fact there morecompositions here compared with Recuerdos and Simple. BHM: Yes, there are 15 tracks. We recorded twenty three tracks in three days. I think we talkabout this before, how I like to record my albums live, to capture the conversation, all thespontaneous energy. The only one who recorded separately was the cellist. WS: I find it is better that way. BHM: Yes. With this kind of music that contains lots of improvisation, that interaction isnecessary. WS: Now that we are talking about this. When you are recording, how much is written and how muchis improvised? BHM: That varies from theme to theme. But, one thing I try to achieve with music is preciselythat people won’t notice which part was written and which part was improvised. For thatfrontier to not be completely clear. The improvisation melody comes from the compositionand viceversa.

Jazzin' it Up in Puerto Rico Carli's Fine Bistro & Piano, San JuanLive Music Monday - Saturday Abracadabra Counter Cafe, San JuanLive jazz every friday nightFebruary 27th: William Machado Oceano, Condado, San JuanLive Jazz, Sundays 11am - 3pmJuan Aldahondo - guitar, Janice Maisonet -tenor sax, Manuel Rodriguez - bass,Gamaliel Santiago - drums Ventana al Jazz, Condado, San JuanLast Sunday of the month Doña Ana Restaurant, BayamónLive Music Thursday, Friday & Saturday Downtown, San JuanFebruary 19, 8pm: Javier Fernández Big Band Classic Piano ConcertPianist Benjamin GrosvenorFebruary 20, Sala de Festivales Antonio PaoliCentro de Bellas Artes Santorini. Ponce, Live Jazz Fridays 8pm Betances 100 Sur, Mayaguez Feature your Jazz Venue or Event: 787-942-9772

Jazzin Restaurant Profile: Doña Ana Restaurant

Wilbert Sostre: First, let’s talk about the restaurant concept and beginnings.Rubén Rodriguez: In 1972, my aunt started a restaurant called “El Gran Café”. My aunt’s name wasAna Rodriguez and she developed a concept of Puerto Rican food with the flavors of the way ourgrandmothers used to cook. After 35 years the restaurant was recognized all over the town ofBayamón, and before she died she asked to continue with the concept and restaurant. I neverimagined I was going to do this kind of work. I had other businesses. After she died it took me oneto two years to re establish the mystic of the restaurant and bring back her old customers. Whenshe died the restaurant site that was located behind the old Plaza del Mercado de Bayamónclosed, and I moved the restaurant to a building located in front of the Parque de las Ciencias(Bayamón Science Park). We were there for three years until 2006. Then, the Major of BayamónRamón Luis Rivera told me they were doing the new market place where it is now. Doña Ana wasan icon in Bayamón so he asked me to re establish the same concept. We moved here in February4, 2010 and added the music to the whole concept. I then met Neftalí Ortíz and developed aconcept called Bohemia Jazz, where we play popular music with the jazz element ofimprovisation. WS: So Neftalí, you’ve being here with Rubén since when?Neftalí Ortíz: Almost from the beginning in 2010. I thank Rubén for bringing me here because I’vealways being passionate about music and I needed a place to work with all the music ideas I have.The success of this restaurant, musically, is tha we play the popular music people recognize witha touch of jazz. WS: Let’s talk about your beginnings in music.NO: I started in my hometown Barranquitas and in a a town I love, Cayey. At first I played by ear,guitar and cuatro, but practiced every day. I studied in the Inter American University, a Bachellorin Music Education and worked for 23 years in the Department of Education. Then worked withthe group Mapeyé and also recorded with Tony Croatto, Chucho Avellanet, Danny Rivera and JoséNoguéras. WS: Do you have recordings as a leader?Yes, I have four recordings, plus four publications used in the Inter American University, the MusicConservatory and Escuela Libre de Música. WS: What’s that instrument I just saw you playing?That’s an invention by the cuatrista Javier Alicea. It is called Cuatro-Quinto. It is a combination ofa requinto guitar and a cuatro. It has five single nylon strings, instead of five metallic doublestrings like the cuatro. I find there is a problem in terms of sound with the cuatro when using apickup for amplification. I prefer a deeper sound. And the Cuatro- Quinto give me a closer soundto what I’m looking for. WS: It is the same tuning as the cuatro?NO: Yes, but with single nylon strings. Plus the approach and touch is different. WS: Playing the cuatro, I guess your first influences came from Puerto Rico traditional music.NO: Yes, cuatristas like Masso Rivera and Yomo Toro.Then I heard Nieves Quintero and he blew mymind. I thought, this guy have another swing, it sounds like jazz. WS: So when you got in contact with jazz music?NO: I didn’t grew up with jazz but it caught my attention as soon as I heard it. I like guitarist likeGeorge Benson and Pat Martino, among others.

MIGUEL ZENON'S IDENTITIESMiguel Zenón most recent album Identities are Changeable is another masterpiecefrom this Master Instrumentalist considered one of the best saxophonists in today'sJazz scene. After several albums exploring his Puerto Rican music roots, on IdentitiesZenón gets deep into the question of what it means being from Puerto Rico, especiallyto those living outside of the island. The result is an outstanding recording based oninterviews with people of Puerto Rican descendence living in the US. Miguelcompositions and Big Band arrangements masterfully translate the feeling andcomplexity of defining and/or discovering your cultural identity. Zenón got inspirednot only by the words of the people interviewed but also by their way of talking andmelodic intonation. Once again Zenón is accompanied by three amazing musicians,Henry Cole on drums, Hans Glawischnig on bass and Luis Perdomo on piano. Foradditional information go to www.miguelzenon.com

ROY MCGRATHMARTHA

Despite his Irish name, and even though he lives inChicago, saxophonist/composer Roy McGrath grew up inPuerto Rico and consider himself a native of thecaribbean island. McGrath album Martha is an emotionaldedication to his grandmother, filled with outstandingcompositions and well developed arrangements. From the first track, Cole Porter's "Night and Day"McGrath establish an ambiance of intimacy with hisaudience; an intimate feeling kept all throughout thealbum. McGrath melodic ideas and total command of thesaxophone leave no doubt you are listening to a mastermusician, but the greatest achievement in Martha is howMcGrath brilliantly organize his music concepts andideas. For additional information go to www.roymcgrath.com

After a couple of recordings focused onspecific experiences and aspects of hermusic, pianist Brenda Hopkins Mirandacomes back with maybe her most diversealbum to date. As the tittle suggest,Aeropiano is an invitation to travelthrough Hopkins eclectic influences.Hopkins came from a classical pianoeducation background, but her musictaste and influences includes rock, jazz,brazilian, folk and latin music amongothers. All those music pallettes areincluded in Aeropiano. Aeropiano was selected as one of thebest albums of 2014 by the Puerto RicoPopular Music Foundation (Fundaciónpara la Cultura Popular), a recognitionshe received also for her previous twoalbums Recuerdos de Granada andSimple. For additional information go to:www.brendahopkinsmusic.com For full reviews go to Caribe JazzMagazine www.caribejazzmagazine.com Listen to Miguel Zenón, Brenda Hopkins, RoyMcGrath and more on Jazz and Bossa Radiowww.jazzandbossaradio.com

BRENDA HOPKINSAEROPIANO

Jazzin' CD Reviews

jazzin magazine february 2015

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