Friday evening, February 27 was time for me to check in virtually with the Miguel Zenón Quartet at Smoke, blocks from my former home on the Upper West Side. It was one of only two sets the club would stream from a five-night run, and for me a chance to confirm what I have believed for a while now: that Zenón’s quartet is the best, most consistently thrilling small group out there. They are there tonight (February 28) and Sunday, March 1 as well.
The alto saxophonist and his longtime cohort are coming off a Grammy nomination for Vanguardia Subterránea (2025), which follows Zenón’s 2023 Grammy win for El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2, his second album of duets with Luis Perdomo, the quartet’s extraordinary Venezuelan pianist.
I had the opportunity to quote Zenón in my recent piece about Bad Bunny, noting how musical traditions specific to Zenón’s native Puerto Rico have directly informed his ambitious, highly advanced approach to modern jazz composition. He is one of a number of artists playing wholly acoustic jazz that is transformational in its conception — no electronics, no plugging in, not that there’s anything wrong with that. The language of transformation isn’t about sonics, it’s written into the compositions themselves, inscribed on the multipage, through-composed scores that Perdomo had arrayed before him at those 88 keys, which stared back like a full orchestra.
Zenón and Perdomo were joined by drummer/founding member Henry Cole (also Puerto Rico’s own), who had no charts that I could see — he can flow through these river rapids and avoid all the jutting rocks and sudden drops, maintaining a cool momentum at any tempo or feel. New Zealand–born bassist Matt Penman had charts; he has stepped into a very coveted spot in place of founding quartet bassist Hans Glawischnig, and every black dot on the page was all squared away. Penman also contributed a deeply resonant solo intro to “Traigo Salsa.”
The band was fire — as the kids say — right out of the gate, from the very first darting figures and contrapuntal lines of the opening “Coordenadas,” straight to the last rousing moments of “El Nazareno,” both cuts from Vanguardia Subterránea that are still evolving on the bandstand. Zenón’s alto playing remains a marvel: spotless intonation, warm and inviting tone, level of execution sky-high on written parts as well as solos. The alto is almost like a baton in this quartet, demanding a lot from every member but just as much a part of the action.
Is listening equipment relevant? Well, it’s an excuse to compliment the high audio quality (and robust picture) of the stream from Smoke Jazz Club. For me it’s a MacBook Air and beyerdynamic DT990 headphones through an Audioquest Dragonfly Black digital-to-analog converter. A music as finely detailed and rhythmically charged as Zenón’s is going to bring out every advantage of this setup, and it did.
The club looked full but there were only seven others logged on from home for this early set. You can boost those numbers from anywhere in the world, so buy those streaming tickets, folks, you’ll be very pleased. JT