Marsalis Music Plans New Wamble, Zenón Albums

By I Mar. 24, 2005

Marsalis Music will provide May releases by two young jazz artists: Doug Wamble and Miguel Zenón.

Wamble’s Bluestate (available May 10) is the sophomore effort of the guitarist/vocalist/composer who the label introduced on the 2003 disc Country Libations. Featuring Wamble’s longstanding rhythm section of pianist Roy Dunlap, bassist Jeff Hanley and drummer Peter Miles, the new album documents the strides that the quartet have taken after months of touring and refining Wamble’s singular amalgam of jazz, blues, gospel and country music.

“Playing night after night focused us more in a jazz direction,” Wamble says, “but, in an odd way, it brought out the other eclectic stuff as well. The disparate elements are coming together in a more cohesive way.”

Alto saxophonist/composer Zenón is another musician not content to rest on his growing laurels. After releasing Ceremonial at the start of 2004, Zenón set to work on a set of new compositions inspired by music from the rural regions of his native Puerto Rico. The result is Jíbaro (available May 24), a collection of ten pieces which have earned rave reviews as Zenón has performed them with his quartet.

“When I started to work on my own music and to develop my own sounds, I looked into Puerto Rican music,” Zenon says, “and after immersing myself in bomba and plena, I pushed further and started to address Jíbaro. At the beginning I just wanted to learn about the music, but after I learned the rules and the forms, I heard that they allowed me to apply my own ideas.’

What has resulted is brilliant playing from Zenón and his bandmates pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Antonio Sánchez.