Zenon!

The Redwood Jazz Alliance is proud to present the Miguel Zenon Quartet in concert, Monday, April 7 at 8:00 p.m., in the Kate Buchanan Room on the HSU campus.

Zenon, who won the Downbeat Critics Poll “Rising Star Alto Saxophone” category three years running (2004-2006) and was named Best New Artist of 2006 by the readers of Jazz Times, is a major new voice at the crossroads of contemporary and Latin jazz. Paul Olson of All About Jazz calls the Miguel Zenon Quartet “one of the premier live groups in contemporary jazz.”

A highly sought-after sideman (he’s done notable stints with David Sanchez and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, among others—and he’s a founding member of the SFJazz Collective, with whom he appeared in Arcata for a CenterArts performance in 2004), Zenon is also well-established as a leader: his 2002 debut album, “Looking Forward,” was named independent jazz album of the year by the New York Times, and his most recent, “Jibaro” (which incorporates folk influences of the “musica jibara” of Zenon’s native Puerto Rico), made a half-dozen major Top 10 lists for 2006.

He’ll be touring behind a brand new release, “Awake,” due out April 1 on Branford Marsalis’s Marsalis Music label.

Two other members of Zenon’s quartet, Venezuelan-born pianist Luis Perdomo and Austrian-born bassist Hans Glawischnig, are critically acclaimed rising stars in their own right and have recently recorded as leaders of their own groups. The newest member of the group, drummer Henry Cole, was named as an outstanding young player to watch in the January 2006 Modern Drummer magazine feature article "The Future Of Drumming."

Zenon will also present a free public workshop on Tuesday, April 8 at 10:00 a.m., in Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU.

Advance tickets ($15 general admission, $10 students and seniors) are available online at redwoodjazzalliance.org, and are also available at The Metro, The Works (both Eureka and Arcata), and People’s Records.