Step Tempest Steps Out: New Classy Quartet Music

Miguel Zenón Quartet and Simón Willson Quartet

The combination of saxophone, piano, bass, and drums has been a jazz staple since the 1940s. In this economically unhealthy time, especially for “working” groups, it really is a great pleasure to hear the music created by these two fine outfits.

20 years have passed since alto saxophonist, composer, and arranger Miguel Zenón organized his quartet that features pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig, and drummer Henry Cole. Over that time, the quartet has recorded eight albums, either as a separate unit or as the rhythm section on albums with additional personnel. They have toured the USA, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and around the world. While the leader has recorded several live albums with other ensembles, the Quartet has not.

To celebrate their anniversary, the Quartet played a week of shows at The Village Vanguard in September of 2024. Zenón’s label, Miel Music, has now issued “Vanguardia Subterranea: Live at The Village Vanguard”. Listen below to the band’s version of Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe’s “El Día de Mi Suerte” (“The Day of My Fate” or “My Lucky Day”).

If you only listen to this track, you will hear and, perhaps understand, what makes this ensemble so good. Not only does Zenón play melody but also rhythm, often connecting with Perdomo and Cole. The pianist, who along with bassist Glawischnig, has worked with the leader the longest, also uses his instrument for melodic and rhythmic. The bassist is the glue of the group, the foundation, and adds counterpoint during solos. Cole is a dynamic drummer and so attuned to what the leader, soloists, and partner in the rhythm section are doing, it’s like they are all breathing together.

That connection happens throughout the eight song program. Zenón wrote six new pieces, the group “road-tested” them, and there is nary a false move over the hour of music. Whether it’s the powerful title track, which starts slowly before kicking into a much higher gear, or the truly lovely “Vita", composed for the leader’s grandmother, the Quartet makes you listen. Even if you play the album over and over, the energy, the joy, the spirit, shines through.

The album closes with the other “cover tune”, “Perdoname”. Composed by Jorge Luis Piloto for the famous Puerto Rican vocalist Gilberto Santa Rosa, the song was a great success in Latin communities. Listen to the live version.

Zenón and company play with the song with great respect for Santa Rosa’s version, the leader’s alto sax sings throughout. Even as Cole’s raucous drums dance with glee, the song is melodically delightful. The piano solo is quite fiery which sets the stage for Zenón’s second solo. He playfully quotes a line from the vocal version as the drums put him in a dancing mood. He finally responds to the fire from the rhythm section and his solo ends with a flourish but not before returns to the melody.

“Vanguardia Subterranea: Live at The Village Vanguard” is a delight from start to finish. I really enjoy this band and much of the music that Miguel Zenón created in his career. This is, arguably, the Quartet’s best album. Play it loud and enjoy!!

For more information, go to https://miguelzenon.com/.

Bassist and composer Simón Willson came to the United States from his native Chile in 2011 to study at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Ma. After graduation in 2017, he moved to New York City (the borough of Brooklyn) and has been busy ever since. He has worked and recorded with pianist Ethan Iverson, trumpeter Dave Douglas, saxophonist Kevin Sun, pianist Elan Mehler, and trumpeter Jason Palmer (to name but six). In 2023, Fresh Sound New Talent released Willson’sd debut album, a studio date titled “Good Company” that features pianist Issac Wilson, drummer Jonas Esser, and tenor saxophonist Jacob Shulman (on eight of the 10 tracks). The following year, he organized a quartet that has Neta Raanan (tenor saxophone), Evan Main (piano), and Kayvon Gordon (drums). Willson and Gordon played on Ms. Raanan’s Giant Step Arts 2024 debut album “Unforeseen Blossom”. In March of 2024, Willson’s new Quartet recorded its first album “Bet: Live at Ornithology”. While Jimmy Katz, main Producer for Giant Step Arts, recorded the bassist’s gig, the album was relased this past February on saxophonist Sun’s Endectomorph Records. Willson was thrilled by the results and immediately set to work writing a new set of songs for his new band.

The Quartet went into Samurai Hotel Studios, Astoria, NY, last August to record the new material. The eight-song program, all originals, will be released in late September on Endectomorph. Listening to the new album, titled “Feel Love”, one can hear that the four participants now sound like a “band”. “Bet” is good, quite good, but the newer songs are stronger, feel “lived in”, and sharper in focus. Listen to “Long Distances”:

Willson leads the band from his bass chair, serving as counterpoint to Ms. Raanan’s reading of the melody and then underneath her finely etched solo which is actually a dialogue with Main’s strong responses. Here, the bassist is more foundational which opens space for drummer Gordon to be more responsive. His propulsive playing adds fire to the close of the song.

Other highlights include “Jog” and “Shades”. The former tune starts in a “jogging” pace with the bass setting the pace. Ms. Raanan and Main play rhe theme together through several times, all the while Gordon is begining to kick up a ruckus beneath them. That “fiery” style pushes the soloist to take chances, wandering away from the melody. Again, the sax and piano share the solo space, one at a time buidling tje intensity to where it feels more like “running” until near the close of the tune where the music calms a bit. “Shades” opens with a quiet, contemplative, solo piano: when the rhythm section enters, the music takes on an urgency that informs the melody line. Willson, Main, and Gordon lock in to push the song forward. The bassist then introduces the solo section with a circular, percussive yet melodic, figure. The four musicians begin to interact, responding weth short declarative lines (piano and bass) and scatter-shot percussion. Main’s solo is a two-handed delight.

“Feel Love” closes with the aptly-titled “Show You Out”. The melodic and rhythmical feel reminds this listener of Keith Jarrett’s “The Windup”, especially in the opening lines of the melody as well as how each solo starts unaccompanied before the rhythm section comes dancing in. Like the piece that (seemingly) influenced it, “Show You Out” is great fune from start to finish!

While the Simón Wilson Quartet, led by a composer who is maturing with each song he composes, does not have the history of the Miguel Zenón Quartet, they have, judging by the second album they have recorded as a unit, the seeds of longevity in their sound. The band listens to each other, the music Willson composes gives each player to room to move within the piece, and they sound engaged and alert. Who knows what the future will bring but “Feel Love” is very good advice and music for our time!

For more information, go to www.simonwillson.net/.