Tenor sax player Miguel Zenón (1976) has a warm, supple sound that is deemed rare. He has become a familiar face at the North Sea Jazz Festival. His subtle yet rich playing has interested and touched many festival visitors already. Zenón was born in Puerto Rico, and started playing the saxophone when he was young. He earned a scholarship to the US and studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and at the Manhattan School of Music. Once he arrived in New York, things happened fast. Zenón worked with revered artists like David Sánchez, Charlie Haden, Steve Coleman and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. After immersing himself completely in jazz music, Zenón started probing the music he grew up with in Puerto Rico, called plena. Bop and plena appeared to go together very well, and his album Esta Plena (2009) received rave reviews, as well as a Grammy nomination.
