From Panama, Danilo Pérez

For more than three decades, as a soloist and as a collaborator with jazz giants from Dizzy Gillespie to Wayne Shorter, Grammy Award-winning pianist-composer Danilo Pérez has been lauded as one of the most creative forces in contemporary music. With jazz as a foundation, Pérez’s global music blends Latin roots, West African rhythms and European impressionism in his mission of promoting music as a bridge among all people.

Born in Panama in 1965, Pérez started his musical studies when he was 3 years old with his father, a bandleader and singer. By age 10, he was studying the European classical piano repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in electronics in Panama, he studied jazz composition at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. While still a student, he performed with Jon Hendricks, Terence Blanchard, Slide Hampton, Claudio Roditi and Paquito D’Rivera. Quickly established as a young master, he toured or recorded with artists such as Dizzy Gillespie United Nations Orchestra from 1989-1992, Jack DeJohnette, Lee Konitz, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Tito Puente, Wynton Marsalis, Tom Harrell, Gary Burton and Roy Haynes.

In 1993, Pérez turned his focus to his own ensembles and recording projects, releasing several albums as a leader, earning Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations for “Central Avenue (1998), “Motherland (2000), “Across the Crystal Sea (2008) and “Providencia (2010). In 1996, he was signed by producer Tommy Lipuma to the Impulse label and recorded “Panamonk, a tribute to Thelonious Monk, which DownBeat magazine has hailed as one of the most important piano albums in jazz history. 

Pérez joined the Wayne Shorter Quartet in 2000 with John Patitucci and Brian Blade. This lineup was known as a force in improvisational music via its historic live performances and several recordings. 

In recent years, Pérez has toured with his trio (featuring Ben Street and Adam Cruz) and with Children of the Light, a collaboration with fellow Wayne Shorter Quartet members John Patitucci and Brian Blade. Pérez’s current touring project, the Global Messengers, promotes the idea that music can provide an uplifting message, connection and common ground.

As a composer, Pérez has been commissioned by the Lincoln Center, Chicago Jazz Festival and Imani Winds Quintet, among others. His octet for members of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela was commissioned by Carnegie Hall. In 2014, the Banff Centre commissioned Pérez to write a piano quintet for the Cecilia String Quartet, titled Camino de Cruces. He also composed the music for the Museum of Biodiversity in Panama, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry. In 2015, Pérez premiered Expeditions — Panamania 2015 at the Pan-American Games in Toronto and Detroit World Suite: La Leyenda de Bayano at the Detroit Jazz Festival. 

Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci & Brian Blade with guest Mark Turner will perform Oct. 25 in an SCP Jazz concert celebrating the legacy of Wayne Shorter.