San Francisco has a lot of wonderful attributes, from its scenic beauty and cultural diversity to its historic significance. Miguel Zenón’s 17th album as a leader, GOLDEN CITY beautifully embraces all of these elements.
Miel Music
Miguel Zenón – Alto Saxophone and Compositions; Matt Mitchell – Piano; Chris Tordini – Bass; Dan Weiss – Drums; Miles Okazaki – Guitar; Daniel Díaz – Congas, Tripandero, Percussion; Diego Urcola – Trumpet and Valve Trombone; Alan Ferber – Trombone; Jacob Garchik – Tuba and Trombone
Miguel Zenón was commissioned to compose a suite exploring the history of San Francisco and the Bay Area, emphasizing the experiences and contributions of its Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, African-American, and other ethnic communities. The Golden City Suite premiered at the SFJAZZ Center in 2022, featuring a unique production designed for a trombone-centric nonet.
If you missed the San Francisco performance, you can now experience the music on GOLDEN CITY, recorded last year in New York with nearly the same ensemble.
Zenón often collaborates with pianist Matt Mitchell, drummer Dan Weiss, and bassist Chris Tordini. They form the core foundation for the other musicians on GOLDEN CITY.
When Zenón researched his suite, he found the stories weren’t always pretty, but the music reveals the beauty and resilience that defines San Francisco’s soul.
‘Sacred Land’ recounts an event from the past. Not too long ago, the Ohlone people inhabited an area stretching from the San Francisco bay down to Monterey. When California became a state in 1850, state leaders perpetrated massacres against the Ohlone. Zenón’s mournful alto saxophone solo introduces the song, repeating phrases that are then picked up by the piano, and the horns. The horns syncopate animated lines back-and-forth. Diego Urcola delivers an outstanding solo on the valve trombone.
The Gold Rush of 1848 helped accelerate the decline of the Native American population due to disease and starvation. In ‘Rush,’ a thumping bass drum sets the foundation as Zenón’s alto saxophone and the horns “honk” at each other. The music ebbs and flows, slowing down, speeding up, and pausing, creating a feeling reminiscent of rush hour on the Golden Gate Bridge.
The Chinese Exclusion Act from 1882 prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers into the United States. This is a good example of what happens when ignorance, racism, and xenophobia is accepted and enforced by our leaders. On ‘Acts Of Exclusion’ Zenón weaves boppish lines on his alto saxophone before unleashing piercing squeals that evoke the sound of anguish. Miles Okazaki’s guitar solo is brilliant, seamlessly blending jazz, classical, and a dash of the avant-garde. Toward the end of the song, all the horns play ascending and descending lines that create a kind of controlled cacophony, but it works.
The impressive horn section of trombonist Alan Ferber, Diego Urcola on trumpet and valve trombone, and Jacob Garchik on trombone and tuba, reflects Zenón’s early influences from Latin music innovators like Willie Colon and Ruben Blades.
San Francisco declared itself a sanctuary city in 1989, and California followed suit, becoming a sanctuary state in 2017. The graceful and seductive ‘Sanctuary City’ is a contrafact of Wayne Shorter’s ’Sanctuary’ from Miles Davis’s BITCHES BREW. Jacob Garchik delivers a superb trombone solo.
San Francisco has a lot of wonderful attributes, from its scenic beauty and cultural diversity to its historic significance. Miguel Zenón’s 17th album as a leader, GOLDEN CITY beautifully embraces all of these elements.
