Miguel Zenón

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1976, Miguel Zenón has developed an approach to the alto saxophone that sits at the intersection of contemporary jazz, post-bop, and several Puerto Rican traditions, notably plena, música jíbara and bolero. He trained at the Escuela Libre de Música in San Juan, then at Berklee College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, where he earned a master’s degree in 2001. He moved to New York in the late 1990s and formed the quartet that remains central to his work, with Luis Perdomo, Hans Glawischnig and, since the mid-2000s, Henry Cole. His discography as a leader begins with Looking Forward (2002), followed by a series of albums that blend jazz composition with Puerto Rican cultural materials, including Jíbaro (2005), Esta Plena (2009), Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook (2011), Identities Are Changeable (2014), Yo Soy La Tradición (2018), Sonero: The Music of Ismael Rivera (2019), El Arte del Bolero (2021), El Arte del Bolero Vol. 2 (2023) and Golden City (2024). In parallel, Zenón has performed with the SFJAZZ Collective and collaborated with Danilo Pérez, David Sánchez, Charlie Haden and Guillermo Klein. A composer, arranger and educator, he also teaches at MIT.