Saxophonist Miguel Zenón and pianist Luis Perdomo release El Arte del Bolero, Vol. 3, the anticipated third installment in their celebrated series
Out August 28, 2026 via Miel Music
NYC Album Release Concert October 17 at The Jazz Gallery
The much-anticipated El Arte del Bolero, Volume 3, the latest installment in the ongoing duo project featuring alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón and pianist Luis Perdomo, will be released August 28, 2026 on Zenón’s Miel Music label. The album will be available on vinyl, CD and all streaming services.
Beloved by listeners and praised by critics, Volumes 1 and 2 showcased the artists in spirited, innovative renditions of Latin repertoire. Volume 3 continues in the same vein, with Zenón and Perdomo at the top of their game and in their comfort zone. “There is a concept behind it,” Zenón says, “but the performances are very off-the-cuff and involve very few takes. We just go in and play!”
It’s fitting that Zenón, a MacArthur Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, and tireless global concertizer who’s released 19 albums in 25 years as a bandleader, should receive a Grammy as well. When El Arte del Bolero, Vol. 2 won in 2024 for Best Latin Jazz Album, the voters got it right; this kind of stand-and-deliver musical eloquence might be the purest form of jazz.
Virtuoso instrumentalists and harmonic masters, Zenón and Perdomo have been playing together in the internationally acclaimed Miguel Zenón Quartet for 27 years, and they have lifelong knowledge of the popular Latin repertoire in common. The distinctive, sweet tone of Zenón’s alto saxophone, Perdomo’s remarkable touch on the piano, and the duo’s ability to follow the music wherever it goes bring these lovely songs to life with authenticity, soul, and spirit.
What is the bolero? A style of bittersweet love song, perfect for sensual, slow dancing, that appeared in eastern Cuba in the 1880s and quickly internationalized. As Latin music became massified in the twentieth century, the bolero was central. Radio transmitted it everywhere. Mexican (and other) movies of the 30s and 40s made hemispheric singing stars out of the artists and established in popular consciousness many songs that are still being sung.
Bolero is perhaps the most pan-Latin of genres. Across the Caribbean from each other, Zenón (in Santurce, Puerto Rico) and Perdomo (in Caracas, Venezuela) grew up with these complex harmonies, timeless melodies, and heart-rending lyrics. For them, the music is personal and meaningful.
“We're exploring music that's very familiar to us,” Miguel says. “For both Luis and myself, it has a personal connection. It's not like I was around when these songs were first written or recorded. It's more like I remember hearing them at home through my parents or grandparents.”
With their duo, Zenón and Perdomo are reviving these durable songs and effectively assembling their own Latin American Songbook canon. “We explore it the same way that jazz folks would explore music out of the Great American Songbook,” says Zenón. Indeed, the composers of these songs were in one way or another influenced by jazz, something that is palpable in the harmonic cadences and song structures.
How does the duo research the repertoire to choose the songs? “It's not like we have to look very far,” says Miguel. “We draw from our own experiences. I might say, ‘Oh, I remember hearing this tune at home with my mom or my dad.’ Or Luis might say, ‘Oh, there's this one tune that I really like, and there's this version by so and so. . .” It’s a personalized approach to repertoire that brings out the soul of this nostalgic music.
The first El Arte del Bolero album was created quickly, in response to the need for a livestream concert during the pandemic. It was released as an album on January 8, 2021, with much of the world still in isolation. The Grammy Award-winning Volume 2 came out in 2023. With Volume 3, it’s officially a series. Listeners fell in love with the first two installments of this wonderful project; Volume 3 should be no different.
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Miguel Zenón is a Puerto Rican alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, music producer and educator. He is a GRAMMY Award Winner, the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a Doris Duke Artist Award. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree in the Arts from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists and composers of his generation, Zenón has released nineteen albums and has collaborated with some of the great musicians and ensembles of his time including The SFJAZZ Collective, Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, David Sánchez, Danilo Perez, The Mingus Big Band, and Bobby Hutcherson. As a composer, Zenón has been commissioned by NYO Jazz, Chamber Music America, Logan Center for The Arts, The Hyde Park Jazz Festival, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, MIT, Spektral Quartet, Miller Theater, The Hewlett Foundation, Peak Performances, PRISM Quartet, Kinetic Ensemble and many of his peers. He has given hundreds of lectures and master classes at institutions all over the world and is an Associate Professor in the Music & Theater Arts Section at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Grammy Award winning pianist Luis Perdomo has released nine critically acclaimed recordings as a leader, and has appeared on over 250 recordings as a sideman. A native of Venezuela, Perdomo holds a bachelor's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a master's degree from Queens College. He has performed and recorded with a wide variety of artists, such as Ravi Coltrane, Jerry Bergonzi, David Gilmore, Tom Harrell, Brian Lynch, Ray Barretto, Henry Threadgill, Ralph Irizarry, David Sanchez, The Cookers, George Garzone and The Vanguard Orchestra among others. A founding member of the Miguel Zenón Quartet which has released numerous recordings, Perdomo has also collaborated with Zenón on three duo recordings: El Arte del Bolero, which was nominated for both a Grammy and Latin Grammy in 2022; El Arte del Bolero, Vol. 2, which received a 2024 Grammy Award, and El Arte del Bolero, Vol 3. In addition to keeping a busy performing schedule, Perdomo is active as a clinician and educator. He has taught at Queens College in NYC, Berklee College of Music, The New School, and is currently an associate professor of Jazz Piano at Oberlin Conservatory. He is also on the faculty of the “Jazz in July” summer program at UMass Amherst.
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