Puerto Rico latin jazz 2010s ▶ 4K subscribers

Miguel Zenón

Miguel Zenón is a Puerto Rican alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, and a MacArthur and Guggenheim fellow.

Origins

Raised in the Luis Lloréns Torres housing project in San Juan, he trained on classical saxophone at the Escuela Libre de Música, then studied at Berklee and the Manhattan School of Music. Around 1999 he formed the group that became the Miguel Zenón Quartet in New York.

The sound

His compositions build modern jazz on Puerto Rican folk and popular forms such as plena, bomba and bolero, as well as the music of salsa singers like Ismael Rivera.

Legacy

With pianist Luis Perdomo he won the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2024 for El Arte del Bolero Vol. 2. His quartet is nominated for Best Latin Jazz/Jazz Album at the 2026 Latin Grammys for Vanguardia Subterránea: Live at The Village Vanguard.