FUSIÓN DE JAZZ Y MÚSICA CARIBEÑA PARA EL ÚLTIMO VENTANA AL JAZZFEST

FUSIÓN DE JAZZ Y MÚSICA CARIBEÑA PARA EL ÚLTIMO

VENTANA AL JAZZFEST

Heineken cierra el 2015 con la presentación del trio San Juan Collective y la agrupación

Viento de Agua.

San Juan, Puerto Rico (22 de diciembre de 2015)— El próximo domingo, 27 de diciembre, a partir de las 4:30 pm, se celebrará la última edición del Heineken Ventana al JazzFest del 2015, evento libre de costo presentado por la cerveza Premium holandesa Heineken. Como es de costumbre los últimos domingos de cada mes, la Ventana al Mar, en Condado, se convertirá en el escenario de los mejores exponentes del jazz en Puerto Rico. Para esta ocasión, el trío San Juan Collective y la agrupación Viento de Agua serán los encargados del entretenimiento musical. 

San Juan Collective, liderados por el baterista y profesor universitario Raúl Maldonado, es un trio de jazz contemporáneo que mezcla las influencias del jazz y la música afrocaribeña. Nominados dos veces al Grammy Latino por su trabajo con Charlie Sepúlveda & The Turnaround, San Juan Collective utiliza composiciones originales como base para sus sesiones de improvisaciones colectivas, donde dan rienda suelta a su creatividad a través de la batería, el saxofón y el bajo electrónico. Junto a Maldonado forman el colectivo los músicos Gabriel Rodríguez, quien también es director del Departamento de Jazz y Música Caribeña del Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, y Norberto “Tiko” Ortiz, maestro de saxofón de la misma institución. 

Durante la velada musical, la tercera para el colectivo, presentarán temas de sus dos producciones discográficas, San Juan Collective y Fuera de Control, así como arreglos de música autóctona puertorriqueña hechos especialmente para el último Ventana al Jazz Fest de este año. 

Por otra parte, el cierre de la tarde estará en manos de la agrupación Viento de Agua, capitaneados por su cantante y director, Héctor “Tito” Matos. Nacida en Nueva York en 1997, Viento de Agua fusiona los ritmos tradicionales afrocaribeños, la bomba y la plena con el jazz, creando una mezcla única y creativa para el deleite de su público. Luego de compartir escenarios con grandes figuras del jazz en Nueva York y presentarse en importantes escenarios de la música, como el Lincoln Center’s Outdoors, Smithsonian’s Folkways Festival, Festival Claridad y el Festival Afro Caribeño, Matos regresa a Puerto Rico en el 2004 y reorganiza el grupo, dando vida a sus producciones Materia Prima, Fruta Madura, el documental Plenazos Callejeros y su último disco, Opus IV, nominado al Grammy Latino por el arreglo que Miguel Zenón le hiciera al tema Nueva York. Este será interpretado por Kiani Medina el domingo. 

“Estamos súper contentos de que se nos haya dado la oportunidad de presentarnos en Ventana al JazzFest por primera vez porque entendemos que es una plaza más dirigida al género (jazz). Que se nos permita presentarnos y cerrar con nuestra fusión de jazz, bomba y plena, de verdad, nos alegra mucho” expresó Maldonado, quien adelantó que tocarán el tema Plena Azul, escrito exclusivamente para su participación en el Heineken Jazz Fest hace dos años y el cual no han vuelto a presentar en vivo desde entonces. 

Heineken Ventana al JazzFest ofrecerá un espectáculo gratuito de alta calidad musical para el disfrute del público que se reúne el último domingo de cada mes para compartir en un ambiente de jazz al aire libre.

Internationally Renowned Saxophonist/Composer Miguel Zenón's Identities are Changeable Earns Grammy Nomination for "Best Latin Jazz Album"

Internationally Renowned Saxophonist/Composer Miguel Zenón's

Identities are Changeable Earns Grammy Nomination for "Best Latin Jazz Album"

 

"Two words: cultural treasure! In "Identities are Changeable", saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón illustrates why he is a Guggenheim Fellow and a Mac Arthur Genius!" - Sandra Guzman, NBC News

"Bold, accessible, and above all memorably singular, Identities Are Changeable has the makings of a classic. It is Zenón's most personal, and perhaps, the most accomplished work to date." - Hrayr Attarian, Chicago Jazz Magazine

"Music of extraordinary depth and originality... his most ambitious recording to date." - Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune


 

Internationally acclaimed saxophonist/composer Miguel Zenón has earned a Grammy nomination in the category of "Best Latin Jazz Album" for his groundbreaking recording Identities are Changeable, which focuses on the cultural identity of the Puerto Rican community in NYC.  

"I'm very happy about our nomination, especially since it is the first one under our label Miel Music," says Zenón.   "I definitely feel privileged to be recognized along with such a distinguished group of artists and look forward to joining them at the ceremony on February 15th."

The point of departure for Identities are Changeable, released November 4, 2014 on his Miel Music label, was the question Zenón had been asking himself and his friends: What does it mean to be Puerto Rican in 21st-century New York City?  Zenón did his own fieldwork for the project, interviewing New Yorkers of Puerto Rican descent, focusing on their experience as second-generation Puerto Ricans. The result is a song cycle for large ensemble, with his longtime quartet (Luis Perdomo, piano; Hans Glawischnig, bass; Henry Cole, drums) at the center, incorporating recorded voices from a series of interviews.  Commissioned by Montclair State University's Peak Performances series, it has a multi-media element with audio and video footage from the interviews, complemented by a video installation created by artist David Dempewolf.  The piece has been performed at venues and festivals worldwide.

The album has received extensive critical acclaim:

"Identities are Changeable is a stoutly ambitious new statement by the alto saxophonist and composer Miguel ZenónŠHis focus turns here to the Nuyorican experience, interpolating snippets of oral history into his state-of-the-art big band arrangements." - Nate Chinen, New York Times

"...a celebratory and poignant dive into understanding the bicultural identity of New Yorkers of Puerto Rican descent. It is an album of highly charged and personal music that at its heart showcases storytelling with passion." - Dan Ouelettte, DownBeat

 "A richly inventive saxophonist who has often been heard on this coast in his longtime association with the SFJAZZ Collective, Miguel Zenón issued maybe the Latin Jazz album of the year in 'Identities Are Changeable.'" - Chris Barton, LA Times

"Bold, accessible, and above all memorably singular, Identities Are Changeable has the makings of a classic. It is Zenón's most personal, and perhaps, the most accomplished work to date." - Hrayr Attarian, Chicago Jazz Magazine

"Music of extraordinary depth and originality... his most ambitious recording to date." - Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

 "...the music is much too majestic to be ignored. Harmonically, and especially rhythmically, its layered multiple meters create a totally different music that is neither conventional jazz nor too obviously related to the island itself...[This is] Zenón in spellbinding form and his terrific rhythm team, which inspires the ensemble, with drummer Henry Cole occasionally achieving seemingly impossible polyrhythms." - Tony Hall, Jazzwise magazine (UK)

"Thought-provoking interviews, memorable performances, and excellent composition, Zenón's Identities Are Changeable has a distinct identity all its own." - Mark F. Turner, All About Jazz

A multiple Grammy® nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow, Zenón is one of a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, Zenón has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American folkloric music and jazz. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has recorded and toured with a wide variety of musicians including Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Bobby Hutcherson and Steve Coleman and is a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective.


The Grammy Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, February 15, 2016, in Los Angeles. For a complete list of nominees for the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards go to http://www.grammy.com/nominees