Danilo Pérez
Encyclopedia
Danilo Pérez is a Panamanian pianist
and composer
.
Danilo started his musical training at 3 years old with his father Danilo Sr, a professional bandleader and singer, gave Danilo Jr. his first set of bongos. By the time he was 10 years of age he was studying the European Classical Piano repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama, eventually transferring to the Berklee College of Music
to study Jazz composition and then serving as a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music
. While growing up in Panama, Perez was notably influenced by the works of Gershwin, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and his mentor in spirit Thelonious Monk.
, Terence Blanchard
, Claudio Roditi
and Paquito D'Rivera
. He also was part of the Grammy winning album, Danzon
. Wynton Marsalis asked Perez to tour Poland with his band in 1995; Danilo Perez was the first Latin artist to perform with Marsalis. For the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Perez and Marsalis played together again. He performed as a special guest at President Clinton's Inaugural Ball, and played the piano on the Bill Cosby theme song.
He also played with Dizzy Gillespie
, Jack DeJohnette
, Charlie Haden
, Michael Brecker
, Joe Lovano
, Tito Puente
, Gerardo Núñez
, Wynton Marsalis
, John Patitucci
, Tom Harrell
, Gary Burton
, Wayne Shorter
, Roy Haynes
, Steve Lacy
and others.
Other influential studies that Perez has achieved have been his album for Impulse! records, PanaMonk, which is a study of and tribute to Thelonious Monk. According to DownBeat magazine, Pana Monk is one of the most important jazz piano albums.
His third album, PanaMonk, Perez paid tribute to Thelonious Monk as well as all the other musicians he had been in contact with up to that point. An almost entirely wordless album, PanaMonk lets the music speak for itself. A listener can hear the appreciation and love Perez has for improvisational playing and composing, all of which Monk was revered for. Perez told JazzTimes Magazine, "His (Monk's) music was the epitome of small group playing, the epitome of jazz music. If you really want to know about jazz and swing, he's one of the best to go to.
Perez fourth album, Central Avenue, earned in 1998 the Grammy nomination for best Jazz album of the year. Central Avenue is a blend of blues, folk songs, a sprinkling of Caribbean influence and some Middle Eastern melodies thrown in for added spice. Tommy LiPuma, who worked with Perez on PanaMonk, produced the album. Central Avenue is a combination of all the cultures that can be encountered.He arranged the ensemble of bassists John Pattutucci and Avishai Cohen, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts. Most of the songs were done in one take in order so to not lose the freshness of the session. The only song not done in one take was "Panama Blues." For that song, which features Panamanian folk singer Raul Vital, Perez recorded the folksinger and his chorus of mejorana singers in the mountain regions of Panama and then brought the recording back to New York where he and his ensemble added their musical touch. Mejorana is an improvisational style of singing where the singers can go on for hours, especially when supplied with alcohol. Perez told Graybow of Billboard, "[I heard] the blues in their voices, much like the blues down in Mississippi," and instantly wanted to record them. But, Perez didn't want to take the singer out of his environment and thus lose the influence.
(2002), Alegría
(2003), and Beyond the Sound Barrier
(2005).
A resident of Boston, Danilo Perez serves as the artistic director of the Berklee College of Music Global Jazz Institute, a program for talented jazz students from around the world.
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Early life
Danilo Pérez was born in Panama in 1965. He is considered one of the finest contemporary pianists and jazz composers of our era.Danilo started his musical training at 3 years old with his father Danilo Sr, a professional bandleader and singer, gave Danilo Jr. his first set of bongos. By the time he was 10 years of age he was studying the European Classical Piano repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama, eventually transferring to the Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
to study Jazz composition and then serving as a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
. While growing up in Panama, Perez was notably influenced by the works of Gershwin, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and his mentor in spirit Thelonious Monk.
Career
When Danilo Perez moved to the United States his prominence increased immensely. He played with living jazz legends who played a key role in shaping Perez's technique and style. Between 1985 and 1988, while being a student at Berklee, Perez played with Jon HendricksJon Hendricks
Jon Hendricks is an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is considered one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists...
, Terence Blanchard
Terence Blanchard
Terence Oliver Blanchard is an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, and film score composer. Since he emerged on the scene in 1980 with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and then shortly thereafter with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Blanchard has been a leading artist in jazz...
, Claudio Roditi
Claudio Roditi
Claudio Roditi is a Brazilian jazz trumpeter.After arriving in the United States in 1970, he began to study at Berklee School of Music, where he became musically influenced by Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan...
and Paquito D'Rivera
Paquito D'Rivera
Paquito D'Rivera is a Cuban alto saxophonist, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist. The winner of multiple Grammys and other awards, D'Rivera has lived in the United States since the early 1980s. He has worked in a variety of contexts, but is perhaps best known for playing Latin...
. He also was part of the Grammy winning album, Danzon
Danzón
Danzón is the official dance of Cuba. It is also an active musical form in Mexico and is still beloved in Puerto Rico where Verdeluz, a modern danzón by Puerto Rican composer Antonio Cabán Vale is considered the unofficial national anthem...
. Wynton Marsalis asked Perez to tour Poland with his band in 1995; Danilo Perez was the first Latin artist to perform with Marsalis. For the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Perez and Marsalis played together again. He performed as a special guest at President Clinton's Inaugural Ball, and played the piano on the Bill Cosby theme song.
He also played with Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
, Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
, Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
Charles Edward Haden is an American jazz musician. He is a double bassist, probably best known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman...
, Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
, Joe Lovano
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
, Tito Puente
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
, Gerardo Núñez
Gerardo Núñez
Gerardo Núñez Díaz is a Spanish guitarist and composer. His roots lie in flamenco, but he has also ventured into fusion with other genres, especially jazz.- Career :...
, Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, John Patitucci
John Patitucci
John Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning jazz double bass and jazz fusion electric bass player.-Biography:Patitucci is of Italian descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he began playing the electric bass at age ten, composing and performing at age 12, as well as the acoustic bass at...
, Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell is a renowned American post-bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer and arranger.-Biography:Tom Harrell was born in Urbana, Illinois but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area at the age of five. He started playing trumpet at eight and within five years, started playing gigs with...
, Gary Burton
Gary Burton
Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated...
, Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
, Roy Haynes
Roy Haynes
Roy Owen Haynes is an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Haynes is among the most recorded drummers in jazz, and in a career lasting more than 60 years has played in a wide range of styles ranging from swing and bebop to jazz fusion and avant-garde jazz...
, Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
and others.
Influences
Conceivably Perez biggest influence in terms of style and thought was Dizzy Gillespie. Perez had the opportunity to perform with Gillespie and his United Nations Orchestra from 1989 until the band leader’s death in 1992. Perez states in a press report for the Independent that “One of the things Dizzy taught me was to learn about my own heritage even more than I knew already. He said it was more important for jazz for you to get to what your roots are, than to learn about other things…” Danilo assimilated the be-bop and post-bop styles. He was also a member of the Grammy winning record Live At The Royal FestivalOther influential studies that Perez has achieved have been his album for Impulse! records, PanaMonk, which is a study of and tribute to Thelonious Monk. According to DownBeat magazine, Pana Monk is one of the most important jazz piano albums.
Recordings as a Leader
In 1994, Perez recorded his most personal album, The Journey, a musical account of the torturous trip African slaves made across the oceans in the hulls of the slave ships. The album made it to the top ten jazz lists of New York's Village Voice, the New York Times, Billboard Magazine, and the Boston Globe. It also allowed Perez to become a recognizable name in the jazz community. Perez set up the album as a dream series tracing the route of slaves, stolen or sold from their homes and transported across the sea. The Journey begins with "The Capture," makes it way through "The Taking," "Chains," The Voyage," and finishes with "Libre Spiritus." Renowned saxophonist David Sanchez and percussionist Giovani Hildalgo play on the album, which was recorded in two days at the Power Station in New York City.His third album, PanaMonk, Perez paid tribute to Thelonious Monk as well as all the other musicians he had been in contact with up to that point. An almost entirely wordless album, PanaMonk lets the music speak for itself. A listener can hear the appreciation and love Perez has for improvisational playing and composing, all of which Monk was revered for. Perez told JazzTimes Magazine, "His (Monk's) music was the epitome of small group playing, the epitome of jazz music. If you really want to know about jazz and swing, he's one of the best to go to.
Perez fourth album, Central Avenue, earned in 1998 the Grammy nomination for best Jazz album of the year. Central Avenue is a blend of blues, folk songs, a sprinkling of Caribbean influence and some Middle Eastern melodies thrown in for added spice. Tommy LiPuma, who worked with Perez on PanaMonk, produced the album. Central Avenue is a combination of all the cultures that can be encountered.He arranged the ensemble of bassists John Pattutucci and Avishai Cohen, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts. Most of the songs were done in one take in order so to not lose the freshness of the session. The only song not done in one take was "Panama Blues." For that song, which features Panamanian folk singer Raul Vital, Perez recorded the folksinger and his chorus of mejorana singers in the mountain regions of Panama and then brought the recording back to New York where he and his ensemble added their musical touch. Mejorana is an improvisational style of singing where the singers can go on for hours, especially when supplied with alcohol. Perez told Graybow of Billboard, "[I heard] the blues in their voices, much like the blues down in Mississippi," and instantly wanted to record them. But, Perez didn't want to take the singer out of his environment and thus lose the influence.
Wayne Shorter Quartet
In 2000, Danilo joined Wayne Shorter, to form Shorter's great quartet with John Patitucci and Brian Blade. Perez has played concerts with the group extensively since then, and appears on all three of the recordings Shorter has made during this period: Footprints Live!Footprints Live!
Footprints Live! is a live album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2002. It was Shorter's first official live album released under his own name and the first album to feature the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade.-Reception:The...
(2002), Alegría
Alegría (Wayne Shorter album)
Alegría is an album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2003. It the second album to feature the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade....
(2003), and Beyond the Sound Barrier
Beyond the Sound Barrier
Beyond the Sound Barrier is a live album by saxophonist Wayne Shorter released on Verve Records in 2005. It was recorded in Europe, America and Asia and features the 'Footprints Quartet' of Shorter, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade....
(2005).
A resident of Boston, Danilo Perez serves as the artistic director of the Berklee College of Music Global Jazz Institute, a program for talented jazz students from around the world.
Discography
- Danilo Pérez (with Santi DebrianoSanti DebrianoSanti Wilson Debriano is a jazz bassist.Debriano was raised in Brooklyn, having moved there with his family at age four. He studied composition at Union College in New York, then attended the New England Conservatory of Music and Wesleyan University...
, Jack DeJohnetteJack DeJohnetteJack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
, Joe LovanoJoe LovanoJoseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
, David SánchezDavid Sánchez (musician)David Sanchez is a well known, 2005 Grammy winning jazz tenor saxophonist from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico born in September 1968.-Early life:Sanchez took up the conga when he was eight and started playing tenor saxophone at age 12. The earliest influences were Afro-Caribbean and danza but also European...
, Rubén BladesRubén BladesRubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
), 1993 - The Journey (with David SánchezDavid Sánchez (musician)David Sanchez is a well known, 2005 Grammy winning jazz tenor saxophonist from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico born in September 1968.-Early life:Sanchez took up the conga when he was eight and started playing tenor saxophone at age 12. The earliest influences were Afro-Caribbean and danza but also European...
, Milton Cardona, Ignacio Berroa, Kimati Dinizulu, George GarzoneGeorge GarzoneGeorge Garzone is a saxophonist and jazz educator residing in New York city.Saxophonist George Garzone is a member of The Fringe, a jazz trio founded in 1972 that includes bassist John Lockwood and drummer Bob Gullotti, that performs regularly in the Boston area and has toured world wide. The...
, Larry Grenadier), 1994 - Danzon (with Arturo SandovalArturo SandovalArturo Sandoval is a jazz trumpeter and pianist. He was born in Artemisa, in the newest renamed Artemisa Province, Cuba....
, Giovanni HidalgoGiovanni HidalgoGiovanni Hidalgo a.k.a. "Mañenguito" is an educator and percussionist associated with Latin jazz.-Early years:Hidalgo was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where he received his primary education. His grandfather had also been a musician as well as his father, José Manuel Hidalgo "Mañengue", who was...
, Carlos Gómez, Juan Nogueras, Rigo Herrera, Rita Quintero, Cheito Quinones, Bill Cosby, Kenny Anderson, Dana Teboe, Ed Calle, René Toledo, Richard Eddy, Gloria EstefanGloria EstefanGloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
, Roger IngramRoger IngramRoger Ingram is a lead trumpet player, educator, and author. He is best known for being the lead trumpet player on the Jazz at Lincoln Center, Harry Connick, Jr., Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, and Woody Herman big bands, and his 2008 trumpet textbook, Clinical Notes on Trumpet Playing, and the...
, Sal Cuevas, Félix Gómez, Eddie Rivera, Vikki CarrVikki CarrVikki Carr is an American singer and humanitarian from El Paso, Texas. She has performed in a variety of music genres, including jazz, pop and country, but has enjoyed her greatest success singing in Spanish.-Career:After taking the stage name 'Vikki Carr', she signed with Liberty Records in 1962...
, Dave ValentinDave ValentinDave Valentin is a jazz flutist.He learned latin percussion first when he was a teenager, and then switched to flute. Valentin's teacher, Hubert Laws, suggested that he not double on saxophone because of his attractive sound on the flute. He studied at the Bronx Community College...
, Willy ChirinoWilly ChirinoWilly Chirino, born April 5, 1947 in Consolación del Sur, Pinar del Río, Cuba, is an entertainer and singer in the salsa style.-Early Family Life:...
), 1994 - PanaMonk (with Terri Lyne CarringtonTerri Lyne CarringtonTerri Lyne Carrington is a jazz drummer, composer, record producer and entrepreneur. She has played with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and many more...
, Avishai Cohen, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Olga Roman), 1996 - Central Avenue (with John PatitucciJohn PatitucciJohn Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning jazz double bass and jazz fusion electric bass player.-Biography:Patitucci is of Italian descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he began playing the electric bass at age ten, composing and performing at age 12, as well as the acoustic bass at...
, Jeff Ballard, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Luciana Souza, Raul Vital), 1998 - Motherland (with Claudia AcuñaClaudia AcuñaClaudia Acuña is a Chilean vocalist. Born in Santiago and raised in Concepcion, she was inspired as a child to perform a variety of music, including folk, pop and opera, by Victor Jara and Violetta Parra. Her attention turned to American popular music and jazz at the age of 15, when she first...
, Greg Askew, Aquiles Baez, Brian BladeBrian BladeBrian Blade in Shreveport, Louisiana is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.-Early years:...
, Louis Bauzo, Richard BonaRichard BonaRichard Bona is a jazz bassist and musician. His real African name, as he said live in Montreal in a show with Bobby McFerrin, is Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo...
, Richard ByrdRichard ByrdRichard Byrd is the name of:*Richard C. Byrd , American politician*Richard Evelyn Byrd , admiral, polar explorer, aviator*Richard Byrd , American Olympic athlete...
, Regina CarterRegina CarterRegina Carter is an American jazz violinist. She is the cousin of famous jazz saxophonist James Carter.-Early life:...
, Carlos Henríquez, Chris Potter, Luisito Quintero, Kurt RosenwinkelKurt RosenwinkelKurt Rosenwinkel is an American jazz guitarist and keyboardist who came to prominence in the 1990s.-Biography:He attended the Berklee School of Music for two and a half years before leaving in his junior year to tour with Gary Burton, the dean of the school at the time...
, Antonio Sánchez, Luciana Souza, Diego Urcola, Ricaurte Villarreal), 2000 - Footprints Live (with Wayne ShorterWayne ShorterWayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
, John PatitucciJohn PatitucciJohn Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning jazz double bass and jazz fusion electric bass player.-Biography:Patitucci is of Italian descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he began playing the electric bass at age ten, composing and performing at age 12, as well as the acoustic bass at...
, Brian BladeBrian BladeBrian Blade in Shreveport, Louisiana is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.-Early years:...
), 2002 - ...Till Then (with John PatitucciJohn PatitucciJohn Patitucci is an American Grammy-winning jazz double bass and jazz fusion electric bass player.-Biography:Patitucci is of Italian descent and was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he began playing the electric bass at age ten, composing and performing at age 12, as well as the acoustic bass at...
, Brian BladeBrian BladeBrian Blade in Shreveport, Louisiana is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.-Early years:...
, Ben StreetBen StreetBen Street is a New York-area jazz double bassist. He has played with many great jazz artists, notably Kurt Rosenwinkel on the album Next Step, Ben Monder on the album Dust and Sam Rivers on the album Violet Violets...
, Lizz WrightLizz WrightLizz Wright is an American jazz/R&B singer and composer.Wright was born in the small town of Hahira in the US state of Georgia; one of three children and the daughter of a minister and the musical director of their Church. She started singing gospel music and playing piano in church as a child,...
, Donny McCaslinDonny McCaslinDonny McCaslin is an American jazz saxophonist.McCaslin's father was a vibraphonist, and he played in his father's ensemble at the age of twelve. He had his own group in high school which played three years at the Monterey Jazz Festival. He studied under Paul Contos and Brad Hecht, both of whom...
, Adam Cruz), 2003 - Danilo Pérez Trio Live at the Jazz Showcase (with Adam Cruz, Ben StreetBen StreetBen Street is a New York-area jazz double bassist. He has played with many great jazz artists, notably Kurt Rosenwinkel on the album Next Step, Ben Monder on the album Dust and Sam Rivers on the album Violet Violets...
), 2005 - Danilo Pérez - Across The Crystal Sea (arranged and conducted by Claus OgermanClaus OgermanClaus Ogerman is a German musical arranger/ orchestrator, conductor, and composer, best known for his works with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra and Diana Krall.-Life and work:...
), 2008