Identities are Changeable

MIGUELZENÓN

Identities areChangeable

Miguel Zenón Quartet

“Identities” Big Band

Miguel Zenón - alto saxophone • Luis Perdomo - piano Hans Glawischnig - bass • Henry Cole - drums

Will Vinson, Michael Thomas – alto saxophonesSamir Zarif, John Ellis (solo on “Same Fight”) – tenor saxophones

Chris Cheek – baritone saxophoneMat Jodrel, Michael Rodríguez, Alex Norris, Jonathan Powell - trumpets

Ryan Keberle, Alan Ferber, Tim Albright (solo on “First Language”) - trombones


1 ¿De Dónde Vienes? (Overture) 4:26

2 Identities are Changeable 11:47

3 My Home 11:26

4 Same Fight 12:25

5 First Language 12:29

6 Second Generation Lullaby 11:20

7 Through Culture and Tradition 10:30

8 ¿De Dónde Vienes? (Outro) 1:20

All music written by Miguel Zenón (MAZENONMUSIC/BMI)

To The Most High, for giving me good health and the opportunity to do what I love. To Nancy, Kelly, Yocha, Junito, Patri, Aidan, Lawrence, Vilma, Elliott and to the rest of my family for your love and support. To Luis, Hans, Henry and to all the amazing musicians in the Big Band; thank you for being at the heart of this music and for making it your own. To Mariah Wilkins, for getting us out there. And to Elga and Elena, I love you very much.

Special thanks to Patricia Zenón, Juan Flores, Sonia Manzano, Bonafide Rojas, Camilo Molina, Alejandro Rodríguez and Luques Curtis. This project is about all of you and it would have never happened without your illuminating words, which you shared with me in all honesty and truth. I’m eternally grateful.

To the many friends and piers who, in one way or another, helped this project become a reality: David Dempewolf, Paul Bagin, Steve Lehman, David Virelles, Jason Moran, Darcy James Argue, Joe Fiedler, Jacob Garchik, Jonathan Finlayson, Seneca Black, Roman Filiú and Terran Olson.

To our Honorary Donors Robert Mailer Anderson, Antonio Lucio and Rick Swig, and to all our Kickstarter backers for their support.

To Jed Wheeler, Randall Klein and SFJAZZ, The SFJAZZ Collective, Bobby Avey, Jeff Ballard, Lionel Loueke, Nancy Marciano, Max Ross, Axel Gutzler, Brian Montgomery, Randy Merrill, Laurent Coq (big thanks to you my friend), Ricky Flores, Ann Braithwaite, Abdiel Flores, Ned Sublette, all my students at NEC, Rio Sakairi at The Jazz Gallery, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, everyone at Rico/D’Addario, to all the promoters and club owners that give our music a chance.

And to YOU for listening.

Miguel Zenón

Recorded March 18th & 19th, 2014 at Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY by Max Ross.Additional recording at the HR Studios in Frankfurt, Germany by Axel Gutzler.Mixed by Brian Montgomery/ Mastered by Randy Merrill.

Cover Photo by Ricky FloresStudio pictures by Laurent CoqStill images taken from a video installment by David DempewolfGraphic Design by Abdiel Flores, WIGO DesignAssociate Producer – Robert Mailer Anderson

Produced by Miguel Zenón

www.miguelzenon.com

For Bookings : Mariah Wilkins Artist Management LLCPhone: 212.426.3282 Skype: wilkinsm86Email: [email protected]: www.mariahwilkins.com

“Identities are Changeable” was originally commissioned in 2011 by Peak Performances at Montclair University / Montclair, NJ.

This recording was made possible in part by a grant from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music 2014 Recording Program.

Miguel Zenón plays Rico Jazz Select Reeds exclusively

Henry Cole endorses DW Jazz Drums, Vic Firth Sticks & Zildjian Cymbals.

Thanks Credits

The music on this recording is inspired by the idea of national identity as experienced by New Yorkers of Puerto Rican descent. It is a six part song cycle (with an overture and postlude to open and close the piece) and I wrote it to feature my quartet plus a twelve-piece large ensemble.

All of this music was written around a series of interviews I conducted with a diverse group of individuals, all New Yorkers of Puerto Rican descent. Before conducting these interviews, I allowed each individual to choose the location for our meeting (most of them chose their homes or places of work). I did this primarily because I wanted them to be as comfortable as possible during our conversations and to avoid putting them in the potentially intimidating and unfamiliar environment of a recording studio. But I also made this decision because I wanted to have the possibility of capturing some of the sounds of New York City: the occasional car or bus driving by; next-door neighbors talking or listening to music; kids playing in the background or in a park right outside the window. These sounds all ended up finding their place within each conversation, making this project (as was originally my purpose) as much about the city itself as it is about the people that live in it. During the interviews I asked them all the exact same questions, which covered topics such as their level of comfort with the Spanish language, places they considered home and their connection to Puerto Rican traditions. Afterwards, I took their responses and represented them musically in the various sections of the piece (e.g. “First Language”, “My Home”, “Through Culture and Tradition”). In addition, and as a way to musically express this unique concept of identity (multiple and changeable), all the sections explore the idea of multiple rhythmic structures coexisting with each other (e.g., five against seven, three against two, five against three). These structures sometimes appear separately and sometimes simultaneously within the same section of the piece.

Since the early 1920’s and spanning throughout the rest of the 20th century, Puerto Ricans have become one of the largest communities in the United States. This is specifically evident in the New York City area, where neighborhoods like “East Harlem” and “The Lower East Side” (both historical epicenters to the Puerto Rican exodus to the city) became known as “El Barrio” and “Loisaida” respectively. Eventually the term “Nuyorican” was born and, as of 2012, there are approximately 1.2 million Puerto Ricans living in the greater New York metro area, making it the largest Puerto Rican community outside of the Island.

Having been born and raised in Puerto Rico, I’ve always been curious about the causes and development for this mass migration to the United States. When I first came into contact with Puerto Rican communities in this country, I was shocked to meet second and third generation Puerto Ricans who were as connected to the traditions of their parents/grandparents and as proud to be Puerto Rican as the people I knew back home. Where was this sense of pride coming from? What did they consider their first language? Their home? What did it mean to them to be Puerto Rican? What are the elements that help us shape our national identity? These questions, along with many others, organically pushed me towards exploring the subject further and into putting together what has now become “Identities are Changeable”.

Thank you very much for listening and I hope you enjoy the music.

Miguel Zenón

Interview Transcriptions

¿De Dónde Vienes? (Overture)

Identities are Changeable

My Home

Same Fight

First Language

Second Generation Lullaby

Through Culture and Tradition

¿De Dónde Vienes? (Overture)

Miguel

Tell me your name,

where you were born and raised and where your family is from

Patricia Zenón

My Name is Patricia Zenón,

I was born and raised in the Bronx,

New York

and my family is from Puerto Rico.

Santurce, Puerto Rico,

both of my parents.

Juan Flores

Ok, so I’m Juan Flores,

I was actually born in Virginia.

Alexandria, Virginia near DC,

because my father was working in DC.

But within a few years

my family moved to New York.

So my father is Puerto Rican,

from the old school…

He was born in 1900 in Barceloneta.

My Mother is Hungarian,

so I’m a “Hunga-Rican”, as they’re called.

What I found out much more recently

is that there are actually

a lot of “Hunga-Ricans”

because the Hungarian neighborhood

in New York is right adjacent to “El Barrio”

Luques Curtis

“My name is Luques Curtis,

I was born in Hartford, Connecticut.

Windsor, Connecticut

right outside of Hartford.

My Dad was born in New London, Connecticut

so he’s from there

but origins from the West Indies.

And my mother is born in Puerto Rico.

Lares, Puerto Rico”

Bonafide Rojas

My Name is Bonafide Rojas.

So I was born and raised in the Bronx in October of 1977,

and grew up in the Grand Concourse

Section of the Bronx.

My mother was born in Guánica (Puerto Rico)

in 1950

and my father was born in Santurce (Puerto Rico)

in ‘48

Sonia Manzano

My name is Sonia Manzano,

I was born in Manhattan

but raised in the Bronx.

So I think of myself as a Bronx girl.

My mother is from Caguas (Puerto Rico),

and my father from Manatí (Puerto Rico),

and they came over in the 40’s

Camilo Molina

My name is Camilo Ernesto Molina Gaetán.

I was born and raised in East Harlem New York,

better known as “El Barrio”.

My family: I’m a third generation Puerto Rican in New York.

My grandparents are originally from Bayamón,

Puerto Rico

and Santurce, Puerto Rico.

And my parents were born here in New York

Alejandro Rodríguez

My name is Alejandro Rodríguez,

but everyone calls me Alex,

and I was born in New York.

My parents are both from Puerto Rico.

I should know

what parts of Puerto Rico they’re from,

and they’ve told me before,

but I don’t remember

Identities are Changeable

Juan Flores

It can be multiple,

and its also changeable.

It might not always be the same all your life,

you might be more one thing

at one stage

and become something else

or something maybe a little different

or think of it differently

than you did in an earlier stage.

You can be different things.

To say that you’re a New Yorker

and to say that you’re Puerto Rican

doesn’t necessarily have to contradict.

A lot of people think that way,

but I don’t believe that,

I think more and more people are realizing

that you can be more than one cultural self

at the same time,

and you’re at the crossings of those.

Rather than being just squarely in one,

you’ll be at the crossings.

Patricia Zenón

I definitely consider myself Puerto Rican

even though i wasn’t born there.

Bonafide Rojas

One of the things

people told me

as i got older,

is that I don’t strike them as a Puerto Rican.

I strike them as a New Yorker.

Camilo Molina

Personally my relationship

with Puerto Rico has always been;

I’m not from there,

but I do consider myself Puerto Rican.

I consider myself a Puerto Rican

who lives in New York.

I was born in New York

but I still consider myself Puerto Rican.

Juan Flores

There was a stage

where being Puerto Rican was really,

not something i denied

but something that really wasn’t that

important to me,

it wasn’t that relevant

and it didn’t matter that much to me.

And then I realized at a certain point

that it really does matter and should

matter.

Luques Curtis

But I look, you know,

I’m sure to everybody else I’m Puerto Rican,

I’m Newyorican or whatever,

but…I don’t know.

It’s an interesting question,

I’ve never even thought about

classifying myself into a certain thing.


It’s where I’m from, right?

It’s where my family is from.

I might not live and breathe that,

but it’s still inside of my blood

and I think is important

to be proud of who you are.

Juan Flores

Because the Diaspora

has forced that on the nationality,

to realize that is not territorially defined.

That territory

is only one aspect of things

and language

is only one aspect of things

Patricia Zenón

I actually

technically don’t really use the word I’m American,

I always say like I’m a New Yorker

or Newyorican.

I just never really identified with being completely American

because my roots

were so soiled in from the beginning,

Spanish was alway my first language.

Juan Flores

I think that the young Puerto Ricans

they often…

their first answer would be Soy Puertorriqueño,

I’m Puerto Rican.

Not Puerto Rican- American,

Puerto Rican.

They reject the hyphen.

Juan Flores

That Identities are not fixed

and permanent and identical throughout.

They’re transformative,

they’re changing,

they’re multiple, they’re chameleon-like.

And that’s not just opportunism,

that’s what life and society is about.

You have a different role,

you have a different self-perception

and as time goes on you can CHANGE.

Bonafide Rojas

The separation of nationalistic identities

should just get erased,

because at the end of the day

the umbrella of Latinidad

and Latino can embrace us all.

My Home

Patricia Zenón

I’ve thought about moving to Puerto Rico

maybe like in my older age,

I’m definitely a New Yorker at heart.

And I love how busy it is

and it’s just where

I was born and raised and it’s just a part of me.

So, maybe when I’m in an older age

I’ll give up the busy New Yorker life

for a more peaceful island life.

But I’ve definitely given it thought

that maybe in the future

I will move back to my homeland

even though I wasn’t born there

Camilo Molina

If I want my kids

to experience what I’ve experienced here in New York;

If I want them to experience something different;

If I want to move to California

and have them experience that;

If I want them to move to Puerto Rico

and experience that

upbringing that I didn’t experience

living in Puerto Rico.

So that has definitely crossed my mind

Bonafide Rojas

I would love.

I’m definitely going to spend some time in Puerto Rico

when I get a little older,

probably like in a couple of years,

where I want to live on the island to see:

Ok, what’s gonna happen here,

let me live in Bayamón,

let me live in Viejo San Juan,

let me live in Río Piedras,

let me see what’s going on.

Let me see, how is this going to affect

my outlook on things

Sonia Manzano

The very first time

I visited Puerto Rico I was fourteen,

so I had no understanding

of what Puerto Rico was like

except from what

my parents talked

around the kitchen table

and the music that they listened to


I definitely went there a lot

when I was younger

and have some really fond memories

of being out there.

And kind of think

and regret not being able to

go out there as much as I’d like to

Luques Curtis

Well, maybe when I’m older

I could go out there.

I’ve been trying to get my parents to go out

there ‘cause it’s almost like paradise,

especially on the country side

Camilo Molina

I’ve seen Boricuas

and personal friends and family

who were born here

and decided to go back there

to live,

even if it was for four or five years,

they felt sort of that connection

and it kind of made them stronger

within their identity

as being Puerto Rican.

It didn’t change that they were born here,

they’d all say I was born in New York,

but those four years

I spent in Puerto Rico

kind of helped me

experience something else,

helped me experience the island,

not just going to visit

Patricia Zenón

New York is definitely my home.

Even in the US

I wouldn’t see myself living

anywhere else besides here

Juan Flores

So you could have different homes.

This is home

in the sense that

these are the streets

I grew up in,

this is where my friends are.

But that’s home

because that’s where my parents came from

and they always talk about that

and I dream about it

Luques Curtis

I feel like my home is here,

yeah. Just because, you know,

I haven’t spent as much time.

I’ve never really spent

more than a week and a half,

two weeks in Puerto Rico at a time.

So I would definitely say

my home is here.


Being born a Puerto Rican

but being born in New York,

I call home New York”

Same Fight


That act of going from the Upper East Side

one weekend

to going to Harlem on the next weekend

just depending on what I wanted to do,

it was a total different lifestyle.

And I think, at least in my time,

African-Americans and Puerto Ricans

shared a lot of the same interests

and a lot of the same joys in life.

At least I think

that’s where the connection might come from

Juan Flores

Even the way they dress,

the way they look,

the way they talk,

everything about them.

It becomes almost impossible to tell them apart,

the Puerto Rican and the Black American part,

and see which is which

and “where are the seams here”.

And it was almost like “Seamless”

Camilo Molina

If I didn’t say anything,

if I didn’t speak Spanish,

they automatically assume

that I was African-American

Bonafide Rojas

And I understood that

I read Huey Newton first.

Bobby Seale,

Otis Cleaver,

Malcolm.

I read all of them before

I ever touch a book on Albizu

Sonia Manzano

When The Young Lords

took over that methodist church in 1969,

they were inspired by the Black Panthers,

who were helping the community

Juan Flores

And look at the music,

Puerto Rican music.

This complicated relationship

between Afro-Puerto Rican and Spanish

and other ingredients

that go into what Puerto Rican music is.

The Afro-Puerto Rican

and the Haitian

and the Cuban

influences are so strong in Puerto Rican music.

Bonafide Rojas

For being as light as I am

I always thought I was the blackest Puerto Rican.

Because I was a Black Panther

before I was a Young Lord,

because I liked Hendrix

before I liked Hector Lavoe

Camilo Molina

There are African-Americans

who enjoy Bomba

and there are Puerto Ricans

who enjoy Hip-Hop.

And with everything:

There are Puerto Ricans

who enjoy Merengue

and there are Dominicans

who enjoy Bomba and Plena.

And that knowledge that

we are fighting the Same Fight

kind of connects us even more

First Language

Camilo Molina

Just having to communicate

with my family

and not wanting there to be

that barrier

kind of made me

and helped me

understand the language

Luques Curtis

My grandmother

speaks a little bit of English,

it’s like I always

have to speak to her in broken down English.

And of course

I would love to relate to her,

I’d love to talk to her

and just find out everything

I could know about her.

But yeah, I guess I’m lazy or something,

I don’t know

Sonia Manzano

I have trouble,

and this kills me,

speaking to my father sometimes.

I mean, isn’t that remarkable?

That a daughter and father

would have difficulty conversing.

I don’t remember that

when I was a kid,

I could always speak to my tíos

Bonafide Rojas

When I started having multiple jobs

where I’m “The Puerto Rican”.

Do you know how to speak Spanish?

I go: “You know, I could try to wing it”

I got better

just because I kept trying to talk to some people

Camilo Molina

It happened a lot

in Puerto Rico and,

you know,

coming back to New York,

I found myself speaking

more in Spanish

than speaking in English.

Because I felt like

I had more of a connection

with people speaking in Spanish

than speaking in English

Patricia Zenón

I definitely feel like

English is my first language

now more so than when

I was younger

because when I was a child

I would speak more Spanish

than I did English

Luques Curtis

Like, I play with Eddie Palmieri.

So, playing with Eddie,

I’m expected to know a lot of things.

To know how to speak Spanish fluently,

but I don’t.

Of course I grew up listening to the music,

so I kind of lucked out on that sense,

but the Spanish thing,

I think that kind of separates me

from being a

“true (in a lot of people’s eyes) Puerto Rican”.

Second Generation Lullaby

Patricia - Aidan - Miguel (In Conversation)

Hey Aidan, say hi to the camera

Say Peace… Say: Yo Soy Boricua!!!… Where are you from? The Bronx!!! The Bronx, you’re from the Bronx

and where is Güelita from?

What island is Güelita from?

Do you remember? Puerto Rico!!! Puerto Rico!!!

Puerto Rico!!!

Puerto Rico!!!

That’s where Güelita is from?

And Güelito? Yeah?

Puerto Rico!!!”

Patricia Zenón

Well, you know,

with Aidan my son

I definitely feel a responsibility

to engrain the culture into him

because it’s essentially

where he comes from,

even though he didn’t actually come from there literally.

But it is my responsibility

to keep that alive in him

because it’s part of him

and being that he is

a second generation New Yorker

it is a lot more difficult to incorporate that,

but it is my responsibility

and I won’t give up

Through Culture and Tradition

Camilo Molina

And through the music

I was able to understand my family

and understand the language

and understand the food,

but music was the starting point.

Understanding Bomba and Plena

and Música Jíbara and other...

not only folkloric stuff

but all the stuff that’s come out of Puerto Rico,

Maelo’s music,

everybody’s music.

That kind of opened the door for me

understanding my family

and understanding my past.

And understanding myself eventually

Patricia Zenón

Puerto Ricans do love their music

and it’s kind of what the celebration

always gets surrounded by,

Puerto Rican music

Sonia Manzano

I absolutely feel that Puerto Ricans

here were more interested

in holding on to Aguinaldos

and Plenas

and folkloric music

Luques Curtis

Jazz too which is an American art form

I love,

but I probably have in that case

more of an attraction to the Puerto Rican art form.

Just because, when I was younger

that’s what I heard a lot more

Camilo Molina

My mother would tell my sisters

“If you wanna be all into Hip-Hop”

and she had no problem with it

but she said

“but you have to understand your culture”

Sonia Manzano

I used to think that all Puerto Ricans sang,

that’s how much my family sang.

It was three guitars, un güiro

or a fork on a grater

and we were the only ones,

school would say??

“I hope it’s white christmas and it snows”

and my mother would say

“I hope it doesn’t snow”

because we would have to go

all over the Bronx

from one house to another,

holding on to this tradition.

And it was so wonderful

and I felt so strongly

about how wonderful the music was that,

yes, when I went back to Puerto Rico

I thought I would hear

that music all the time.

Camilo Molina

My first kind of experience with music

was through Bomba and Plena

and I feel like it’s completely shaped me

Camilo Molina

What led me to Blues

and Jazz

and Rock & Roll

and Salsa

was Bomba and Plena

MIGUELZENÓN


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