TITLE: Awake (Marsalis Music)

ARTIST: Miguel Zenon

STARS: 4 out of 5 stars.

SOUNDS LIKE: Highly intense and imaginative post bop and avant garde jazz with hints of Chick Corea.

I didn't know what to think about alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon's new CD, "Awake" after my first listen.

It didn't strike me as indistinguishable in any way. And it seemingly had no rhyme, reason or direction.

Zenon himself sounded like yet another Sonny Rollins impersonator. And his band mates, Luis Perdomo on piano, Hans Glawischnig on bass and drummer Henry Cole were unknown, at least to me.

But after a few more listens, "Awake" grew on me. I found it to be an elegant piece of work by a young promising new saxophonist who had traces of Rollins in his playing but was also carving new territory of his own.

The 10 songs on the CD seemingly moved between the jazz genres of post bop, fusion and avante garde without warning. A free jazz sax solo would come out of nowhere before mysteriously segueing into an extended and more melodic composition.

The whole CD took on a coherence I somehow missed before. The compositions suddenly began to fit together like chapters of a book. Each chapter exploring a different phase of a spiritual musical journey.

Zenon admittedly said that he wrote the music for "Awake" during a period of personal growth. The tunes on "Awake" are more narrative and thematic than ones of his previous two releases, "Ceremonial" and "Jibaro."

"Here the focus is more personal and philosophical," Zenon said from a press release. "The compositions are designed to feature the working band..."

Each song on "Awake" serves as a story unto itself. A string quartet and three piece horn section provides even more textured layers of color and sound to already nuanced compositions.

My favorite song is "Lamamilla." It sounds like a Chick Corea tune with his signature whimsical chord changes and fusion jazz styled melody.

"Awake" is a truly passionate and intellectually captivating CD.