We’re making our debut appearance at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival this season – and we figured we needed to go big or go home – so we’re performing with the phenomenal saxophonist Miguel Zenón!
Miguel has written us a concert-length suite titled “Yo Soy La Tradición,” and these eight numbers celebrate the four primary folk music traditions of his native Puerto Rico. The music is exuberant, rhythmically driven, and bursting with harmonic twists and turns. This is definitely going to be one of the most danceable shows we’re playing this season (your original Morton Feldman Quartet No. 2 choreography notwithstanding).
Here’s Howard Reich’s preview in the Chicago Tribune of the entire festival, which is a smashing lineup of talent.
A MacArthur fellow and jazz giant, Miguel left an indelible impression on us since guesting on our 2014 album with bandoneonist Julien Labro, From This Point Forward. In the days leading up to our recording session, Julien saw that Miguel was in Chicago playing the Jazz Showcase, got him on the phone, and the next thing we know, Miguel is burning the place to the ground with solo after blistering solo. You can hear the results on the track “El club de la serpiente” (written by Miguel) and Heitor Villa-Lobos’s “Veleiro.”
The faces in this post-recording photo are effectively concealing holy-crap-what-just-happened-I-think-he-broke-my-brain looks of awe…
(not pictured: the dachshund that wandered into the hall during the middle of a take)
PROGRAM
Miguel Zenón: Yo Soy La Tradición (World Premiere)
TICKETS: $5 suggested donation