Miguel Zenon: Vanguardia Subterránea: Live at The Village Vanguard

Suffused with shadows as is the cover photo of Vanguardia Subterranea, it is a perfectly appropriate match for the title of the Miguel Zenon Quartet's first live album. Released in celebration of the ensemble's 20th anniversary, both the image and the music favorably hearken to the displays of healthy improvisational jazz behind graphic designs for vintage albums on the Blue Note and Prestige labels in the 1950s and 1960s.

Recorded over two nights in September of 2024 at New York's iconic Village Vanguard by Zenon and company features the foursome interpreting a half-dozen all-new compositions plus two covers by the bandleader/saxophonist. The fleet and authoritative opening of "Abre Cuto Guiri Mambo" is a piece with arrangements of tunes by Willie Colon and Héctor Lavoe's "El dia de Mi Suerte" and Gilberto Santa Rosa's "Perdoname."

Neither the level of engagement or intensity varies depending on the source material. On the contrary, the impact is consistent and pervasive. From the very outset, pianist Luis Perdomo and Zenon himself whet the appetite for more involved interactions and, sure enough, such robust intricacy (re)appears in short order on the aforementioned Colon/Perez tune: little wonder it goes on more than a minute longer than the preceding number:

Apart from the expansive nearly eleven minutes of the closing track "Perdoname," seven to eight minutes is the prevailing duration of these eight selections. Still, the melody instrumentalists are no less inventive in their exchanges than bassist Hans Glawischnig or drummer Henry Cole; spontaneity rules in these performances recorded by Tyler McDiarmid, which he then mixed for mastering by Mark Wilder.

The latter's customarily expert work is in keeping with the technical skill of his engineering counterpart and, indeed, with the musicians in the Zenon Quartet. As a result, the double bass notes resound on "Vita," they do not boom out of proportion to the other instruments. In a reflection of the stage shot on the back cover, the four are close together as they play without intruding on each other; this title song is indicative of the accessible, inclusive nature of the bond between these players.

Two decades together have honed a natural, shared inclination in Zenon and Company to welcome their listeners into their world as fully as they do on, fittingly, "Bendicion." A similarly uplifting dynamic, however, permeates Vanguardia Subterranea: each track is a microcosm of that pervasive atmosphere.

Neither Miguel Zenon alone on his alto sax nor in conjunction with his three bandmates conjures any discernible innovation on Live At The Village Vanguard. But the fusion of intuition they have forged over twenty years, quietly resplendent through their interplay here, represents a distinction as rare as breaking new stylistic ground. Accordingly, this world should be relished for the extraordinary achievement that it is.