Danilo Pérez
PROJECTS:
As a solo artist and as a collaborator with jazz giants from Dizzy Gillespie to Wayne Shorter, for over three decades Grammy-Award Winning Panamanian Pianist-Composer Danilo Pérez has been lauded as one of the most creative forces in contemporary music. With Jazz as the anchoring foundation, Pérez’s Global Jazz music is a blend of Panamanian roots, Latin American folk music, West African rhythms, European impressionism – promoting music as a borderless and multidimensional bridge between all people. Since 1993 Pérez has released twelve albums which have earned him critical acclaim, and numerous accolades around the world. He is a recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Award in 2021, the United States Fellowship 2018, and the 2009 Smithsonian Legacy Award.
DANILO PÉREZ, BEN STREET, ADAM CRUZ TRIO: PANAMONK
“One of the most important jazz piano albums in history,” wrote DownBeat about Grammy Award winner and Doris Duke Award Artist Danilo Pérez’s groundbreaking 1996 recording Panamonk—a work now recognized as pivotal in the evolution of Latin jazz. This summer, Panamanian born pianist Danilo Pérez revisits the music of Panamonk on tour, performing Thelonious Monk’s compositions through a Caribbean lens with all-star veterans Ben Street and Adam Cruz. When the trio performed this repertoire at Lincoln Center, The New York Times praised it as “exhilarating...moving...the essence was restrained, assured lyricism.”
DANILO PÉREZ, JOHN PATITUCCI, ADAM CRUZ TRIO
For nearly two decades, Pérez performed alongside bassist John Patitucci as the pianist and key collaborator of the Wayne Shorter Quartet. The quartet became known for an almost telepathic way of communicating musically, winning the Best Jazz Instrumental Album Grammy Award in 2019 for Blue Note Records release, EMANON. Patitucci first came to worldwide acclaim in the mid-1980s, when his work with Chick Corea helped put him at the forefront of the jazz world. Patitucci has recorded and performed throughout the world with his own band and with countless jazz luminaries, pop, and classical artists.
Drummer, composer, and educator Adam Cruz was born in New York City and has been a vital creative force on the international jazz scene. He leads his own group, is an integral part of renowned pianist Danilo Pérez’s trio, and regularly works with artists such as Tom Harrell, The Mingus Big Band, Joey Calderazzo, Chris Potter, Steve Wilson and Edward Simon. Adam currently teaches at CCNY and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.
DANILO PÉREZ WITH LOCAL BIG BAND
Danilo Pérez is a singular force in modern music - “practically peerless” as a composer and bandleader (NPR) and “effortlessly hip” in his global approach to jazz (The Guardian). With deep roots in Panama and a career shaped by collaborations with icons like Dizzy Gillespie and Wayne Shorter, Pérez brings unmatched vision, virtuosity, and cultural depth to the big band format. Pérez’s big band program draws repertoire from his vast catalogue, including his notable recent contributions to large ensemble composition and arrangements. Nominated for this year’s Best Large Jazz Ensemble Grammy, Pérez’s Lumen showcases his blend of Latin American folklore with global jazz language. Pérez continues his evolution as a boundary-pushing large ensemble composer with The Panáfrica Suite - a major new work premiering at Rose Hall and co-commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Royal Conservatory of Music which promises to further expand his globally resonant, narrative-rich voice as one of today’s most innovative creators in large ensemble and contemporary jazz. Pérez has performed and recorded alongside Bohuslän Big Band, WDR Big Band, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and many other esteemed ensembles.
DANILO PÉREZ, JOHN PATITUCCI & BRIAN BLADE: CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT
Celebrating and inspired by Wayne Shorter, musical soulmates Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade have long performed together as essential members of the Wayne Shorter Quartet. Embracing the message of their mentor and friend, these three virtuosos celebrate Wayne’s music and introduce new compositions with the Children of the Light trio. Their three-way conversation is an intense collective improvisation, unfolding and constructing the music like a rhythmic and smoldering chamber recital. Called “three musicians capable of improving and altering the course of any musical situation which they may encounter,” it’s been said a Children of the Light sound check “sounds better than half the finished recordings out there!” Speaking of recordings, their self-titled debut album released to critical acclaim and 5-star reviews in 2015. NPR says, ‘Wayne Shorter is Children of the Light’s hidden chord, but this trio draws power from plenty of other sources and influences too. And with its inspired music, Children of the Light shines brightly enough to last as long as any band.”
SYMPHONY
As a solo artist and as a collaborator with jazz giants from Dizzy Gillespie to Wayne Shorter, for over three decades Grammy-Award Winning Panamanian Pianist-Composer Danilo Pérez has been lauded as one of the most creative forces in contemporary music. With Jazz as the anchoring foundation, Pérez’s Global Jazz music is a blend of Panamanian roots, Latin American folk music, West African rhythms, European impressionism – promoting music as a borderless and multidimensional bridge between all people.
Since 1993 Pérez has released twelve albums which have earned him critical acclaim, and numerous accolades around the world. He is a recipient of the United States Fellowship 2018, and the 2009 Smithsonian Legacy Award. For nearly two decades, Pérez has been part of the Wayne Shorter Quartet, alongside bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade. This latest iteration from Shorter has been known as a unique and predominant force in improvisational music both at their historic live performances and on several recordings. In 2018 Blue Note records released the highly anticipated EMANON from the Wayne Shorter Quartet which won a Grammy in the category of Best Jazz Instrumental album in 2019.
PRESS QUOTES:
“Danilo Pérez is a man with some serious jazz cred… The Panamanian pianist got his start playing with Dizzy Gillespie, and continued with Wayne Shorter… As a composer and bandleader himself, he’s practically peerless”
NPR
“…the packed house had been mesmerised by the trio’s twist-and-turn interplay and by the virtuosity pushed to the edge.”
Financial Times
“There is nothing small about Danilo Pérez’s ambitions. The pianist wants nothing less than to create a Panamanian style of jazz composition”
JazzTimes
