MARSALIS MUSIC ANNOUNCES TWO NEW RELEASES
CDs BY DOUG WAMBLE AND MIGUEL ZENÓN TO APPEAR IN MAY

Spring is the time to observe and appreciate growth. In the spirit of the season, Marsalis Music will provide May releases by two of the most individual and mature young jazz artists for fans of the music to savor.

The New Yorker described Doug Wamble as "a one-man compendium of avant Americana," the Los Angeles Times called his 2003 debut Country Libations "an impressive introduction to a guitarist-singer-composer with a bright future," and JazzTimes hailed Wamble's "razor-sharp yet honey-sweet baritone, the bluesy tone of his vintage hollow-body Gretsch guitar, and the tuneful quality of his original compositions."

Doug 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," he reports, "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" Proof can be found in Wamble's six original compositions, plus a contribution from Dunlap as well as visits to the songbooks of Peter Gabriel, Mahalia Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

Alto saxophonist/composer Miguel Zenón is another musician not content to rest on his growing laurels. JazzTimes stated that Zenón's "tunes and playing exude a yearning, elliptical splendor." 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. A New York Times critic wrote about a performance of Jíbaro last June at the Jazz Gallery in NYC: "I've rarely seen a jazz composer step forward with a project so impressively organized, intellectually powerful and well played from the start."

"When I started to work on my own music and to develop my own sounds, I looked into Puerto Rican music," the saxophonist explains, "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.

Miguel Zenón is also a member of the all-star SFJAZZ Collective, which includes Artistic Director/tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Renee Rosnes, trombonist Isaac Smith, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Eric Harland. Presenting an all-new repertoire of original SFJAZZ-commissioned compositions and classic works, this year, the ensemble will perform music by John Coltrane (in arrangements by Grammy-winning arranger Gil Goldstein).