If you want to get to the core of someone, ask them about their past loves and let them loose lips. That’s the philosophy behind “Riffin’: CapitalBop Listening Sessions at the Atlas,” our series of open conversations with world-class musicians at the Atlas Performing Arts Center.

Instead of running through a batch of technical or biographical questions, Luke Stewart and I play a series of videos featuring famous and not-so-known performances that have inspired the artist we’re interviewing. Watching them watch, you can see the artist relive moments of revelation that gave birth to some of their own work. And then you can ask them questions: Luke and I are onstage to facilitate a chat between the artist and you, the audience.

This Wednesday we launch our second season of Riffin’ with the tremendous composer, alto saxophonist and MacArthur “genius” grantee Miguel Zenón. He’s just released Identities Are Changeable, a lustrous album featuring arrangements for large ensemble. Zenón has always had a distinctive, hot-steel tone, equal parts bebop and Afro-Latin, and he’s long been using it to investigate elements of his Puerto Rican heritage. But on Identities Are Changeable, he turns his attention to the Puerto Rican experience in New York City, interspersing audio from interviews inside the music.

He’ll be performing much of the music from that disc this Wednesday, when he appears at the Atlas with his quartet. The show is at 8, and you can find more info here. But make sure to arrive by 7 p.m. for our intimate talk with Zenón. We’ll be seeing videos featuring Puerto Rican folk music, classic American jazz, and perhaps a wild card.

Upcoming Riffin’ sessions:
November 5: Miguel Zenon
March 19: Matt Wilson and John Medeski
April 17: Brad Linde Ensemble (A Night at the Bopera)
One more TBD

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