Biography
Danilo Pérez stands out as a pianist and composer who fuses bebop fundamentals with elements from his Panamanian roots, African traditions, modern classical forms, and wider international styles. He first built his reputation alongside figures such as Paquito D'Rivera and Dizzy Gillespie during the 1980s and 1990s, then drew broader notice through the Grammy-nominated releases Central Avenue in 1998 and Motherland in 2000. UNICEF appointed him a Goodwill Ambassador, and he joined the faculties of the New England Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Onstage he has pursued increasingly layered and diverse instrumental lineups, evident on Across the Crystal Sea from 2008 and the Grammy-nominated Providencia from 2010. In addition to partnerships with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, Pérez gained recognition within Wayne Shorter’s acoustic quartet and received a Grammy in 2020 for his contributions to Kurt Elling’s Secrets Are the Best Stories. The 2021 album Crisalida extended his globally oriented approach even further.
Panama was the site of Pérez’s birth in 1966; after moving to New York City he began piano studies at age three. His father worked as a bandleader and vocalist, and by age ten Pérez was enrolled in electronics courses at the National Conservatory in Panama. Following his college years he relocated to the United States for studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, later transferring to the Berklee College of Music, where his jazz composition major led to performances with trumpeters Terence Blanchard and Claudio Roditi as well as vocalese specialist Jon Hendricks. Since then Pérez has appeared on tour or in the studio with an extensive roster of jazz figures including Wayne Shorter, Steve Lacy, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker, Wynton Marsalis, Gary Burton, Roy Haynes, and Joe Lovano.
His initial major opportunity arrived with an invitation to join Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra as its youngest participant, remaining from 1989 until Gillespie’s death in 1992. The association brought visibility when Gillespie’s Live at the Royal Festival Hall on the Enja label earned a Grammy. In 1994 Pérez recorded with trumpeter Arturo Sandoval on the Grammy-winning album Danzon.
After nearly a decade supporting established jazz artists, Pérez turned his primary attention to leading his own groups around 1993, issuing Danilo Perez and The Journey on the RCA/Novus label in 1993 and 1994 respectively. Down Beat magazine named The Journey among the decade’s outstanding recordings. Wynton Marsalis recruited him into his ensemble in 1995, the same year Pérez appeared with the Panamanian Symphony Orchestra in an orchestral presentation of The Journey. Impulse! released PanaMonk in 1996 and Central Avenue in 1998.
Central Avenue earned Pérez his first Grammy nomination; legendary producer and GRP label chairman Tommy LiPuma oversaw the sessions. The album consists chiefly of originals yet reinterprets the ballad “Lush Life” and John Coltrane’s “Impressions” in distinctive fashion. By the close of the 1990s his four-album catalog had secured his standing among the rising cohort of jazz musicians, paving the way for his entry into the Wayne Shorter Quartet in 2002. His keyboard work appears on Shorter’s Verve releases Alegría and Footprints Live!.
Pérez later accepted the role of goodwill cultural ambassador of Panama for UNICEF and helped establish the Panama Jazz Festival. He also maintains teaching positions at the New England Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Beginning in 1998 he issued further albums under his own name, among them the Grammy-nominated Motherland in 2000 and …Til Then in 2003, both on Verve, plus Live at the Jazz Showcase on Artistshare. Bassist Ben Street and drummer/percussionist Adam Cruz appear throughout these projects, joined on the Verve titles by vocalists Claudia Acuña, Lizz Wright, and Richard Bona, violinist Regina Carter, and bassist John Patitucci.
Across the Crystal Sea from 2008 features bassist Christian McBride, drummer Lewis Nash, and percussionist Luis Quintero together with string arrangements by Claus Ogerman. Providencia, released two years afterward, received another Grammy nomination while exploring themes of fatherhood and the prospects for today’s children. Panama 500 arrived in 2014, blending jazz, classical, and Latin American folk elements. In 2015 Pérez joined Brian Blade and John Patitucci for the trio recording Children of the Light. He rejoined Wayne Shorter for the Grammy-winning Emanon in 2019. The following year brought another Grammy for his work on Kurt Elling’s Secrets Are the Best Stories. His twelfth solo album, Crisalida, appeared in 2021 as two four-part suites titled “La Muralla” and “Fronteras,” performed with the Global Messengers ensemble that includes his wife, Chilean vocalist and saxophonist Patricia Zarate.
Panama was the site of Pérez’s birth in 1966; after moving to New York City he began piano studies at age three. His father worked as a bandleader and vocalist, and by age ten Pérez was enrolled in electronics courses at the National Conservatory in Panama. Following his college years he relocated to the United States for studies at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, later transferring to the Berklee College of Music, where his jazz composition major led to performances with trumpeters Terence Blanchard and Claudio Roditi as well as vocalese specialist Jon Hendricks. Since then Pérez has appeared on tour or in the studio with an extensive roster of jazz figures including Wayne Shorter, Steve Lacy, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Michael Brecker, Wynton Marsalis, Gary Burton, Roy Haynes, and Joe Lovano.
His initial major opportunity arrived with an invitation to join Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra as its youngest participant, remaining from 1989 until Gillespie’s death in 1992. The association brought visibility when Gillespie’s Live at the Royal Festival Hall on the Enja label earned a Grammy. In 1994 Pérez recorded with trumpeter Arturo Sandoval on the Grammy-winning album Danzon.
After nearly a decade supporting established jazz artists, Pérez turned his primary attention to leading his own groups around 1993, issuing Danilo Perez and The Journey on the RCA/Novus label in 1993 and 1994 respectively. Down Beat magazine named The Journey among the decade’s outstanding recordings. Wynton Marsalis recruited him into his ensemble in 1995, the same year Pérez appeared with the Panamanian Symphony Orchestra in an orchestral presentation of The Journey. Impulse! released PanaMonk in 1996 and Central Avenue in 1998.
Central Avenue earned Pérez his first Grammy nomination; legendary producer and GRP label chairman Tommy LiPuma oversaw the sessions. The album consists chiefly of originals yet reinterprets the ballad “Lush Life” and John Coltrane’s “Impressions” in distinctive fashion. By the close of the 1990s his four-album catalog had secured his standing among the rising cohort of jazz musicians, paving the way for his entry into the Wayne Shorter Quartet in 2002. His keyboard work appears on Shorter’s Verve releases Alegría and Footprints Live!.
Pérez later accepted the role of goodwill cultural ambassador of Panama for UNICEF and helped establish the Panama Jazz Festival. He also maintains teaching positions at the New England Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Beginning in 1998 he issued further albums under his own name, among them the Grammy-nominated Motherland in 2000 and …Til Then in 2003, both on Verve, plus Live at the Jazz Showcase on Artistshare. Bassist Ben Street and drummer/percussionist Adam Cruz appear throughout these projects, joined on the Verve titles by vocalists Claudia Acuña, Lizz Wright, and Richard Bona, violinist Regina Carter, and bassist John Patitucci.
Across the Crystal Sea from 2008 features bassist Christian McBride, drummer Lewis Nash, and percussionist Luis Quintero together with string arrangements by Claus Ogerman. Providencia, released two years afterward, received another Grammy nomination while exploring themes of fatherhood and the prospects for today’s children. Panama 500 arrived in 2014, blending jazz, classical, and Latin American folk elements. In 2015 Pérez joined Brian Blade and John Patitucci for the trio recording Children of the Light. He rejoined Wayne Shorter for the Grammy-winning Emanon in 2019. The following year brought another Grammy for his work on Kurt Elling’s Secrets Are the Best Stories. His twelfth solo album, Crisalida, appeared in 2021 as two four-part suites titled “La Muralla” and “Fronteras,” performed with the Global Messengers ensemble that includes his wife, Chilean vocalist and saxophonist Patricia Zarate.