danilo perez
ARTIST FOR THE AMAZON
Testimonial
One thing that caught my attention deeply was the idea of how reforestation worked as an improvisation. You plant something in nature, but then nature improvises; you don’t know how it’s going to come out. I started putting concepts together, like the way the trees behave with a certain rhythm, and the timing that needs to happen. That’s where the first symphony in the world comes from: the jungle. I became fascinated with that. I realized that the closer I got to nature, the more [I thought of] the idea of human development. One day we went to a river for example, and I could drink water from the river. And I had this feeling like, “Wow, how far have we come from this, buying Evian water.” So for me, it connected how humans, the way we’re developed, takes us on this path of destruction. Why are we trying to destroy nature? We need it to survive, and to be creative.”
“When you grow up in Panama, you grew up very close to nature. When we were kids, we used to go to the river [with my father], and he would point out the whistle of the birds. I found it fascinating from early on, the way they whistled…. Then I got into [Olivier] Messiaen. He studied bird calls and wrote a series of harmonies about them.[Later in life,] I started meeting people that started to kind of show me the direction to go. Nathan Gray, who’s the CEO of EarthTrain, and my wife, we started going on journeys deep into the jungle. When I went in, it brought a lot of things together. I already felt I knew what to do while I was in that environment, what to listen for.
About Danilo Perez
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.
Born in Panama in 1965, Pérez started his musical studies when he was three 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 soon toured and/or recorded with artists such as Dizzy Gillespie United Nations Orchestra from 1989-1992, Jack DeJohnette, Steve Lacy, 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 (
Pérez joined the Wayne Shorter Quartet in 2010 with John Patitucci and 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.
For several years Pérez has also been touring 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. Mack Avenue released the Children of the Light album in 2015 to great critical acclaim. Pérez’s current touring project, the Global Messengers, spreads the idea that music can serve as a natural remedy to unfortunate situations, providing an uplifting message, connection, and common ground. The ensemble features musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds, coming together to build community through music.
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” and he also composed the music for the Museum of Biodiversity in Panama, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry. In 2015, Pérez premiered another two new compositions: “Expeditions – Panamania 2015” was premiered at the Panamerican games in Toronto and his “Detroit World Suite – La Leyenda de Bayano” was premiered at the Detroit Jazz Festival. Pérez returns to the Detroit Jazz Festival in Fall 2019 for the world premiere of a new piece written for his Global Messengers ensemble and co-commissioned by the Detroit Jazz Festival, London Jazz Festival, National Forum of Music Wroclaw, and Koerner Hall at Royal Academy of Music Toronto.
Pérez, who served as Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, has received a variety of awards for his musical achievements, activism and social work efforts. He is a recipient of the United States Fellowship 2018, and the 2009 Smithsonian Legacy Award. He currently serves as UNESCO Artist for Peace, Cultural Ambassador to the Republic of Panama, Founder and Artistic Director of the Panama Jazz Festival, and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in Boston’s Berklee College of Music.
Music by Danilo
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