Biography
Roberto Perera blends the folk harp, an instrument rooted in tradition, with modern textures on In the Mood, his latest Heads Up recording. In his hands the Paraguayan harp carries an array of jazz, pop, Latin, and Afro-Caribbean grooves shaped by syncopated pulses that link the hemispheres through a sound only he has conceived. The session draws on guitarists Peter White, Marc Antoine, and Richard Smith, along with keyboardist, producer, and arranger Tim Redfield plus trumpeter and flügelhornist Tony Guerrer.
Perera entered the world in Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, in 1952. At age twelve his mother placed him in a conservatory, where he chose the uncommon 36-string Paraguayan harp. His method involves exacting string bends that produce sharps and flats as he moves across the instrument with apparent ease, a fluency that reflects years of concentrated practice.
Around the same period the Beatles dominated popular music. Perera absorbed their songs along with Brazilian, South American folk, tango, and Paraguayan folk currents. Finding no teacher equipped to show him how to play pop material on the harp, he persisted on his own, solving the technical obstacles and shaping a personal voice.
After finishing a decade of study in Montevideo, Perera relocated to New York City in 1973 to build a professional career. Early club and restaurant work kept him playing folk pieces until a talent scout invited him to an exclusive Florida venue. There he began presenting original compositions, incorporating the influences of Weather Report and Antonio Carlos Jobim while treating the harp percussively, in the manner of a piano rather than a stringed instrument.
By the time Epic Records issued his debut album Erotica in 1990, Perera had established himself as a leading figure in electro-acoustic harp performance. His next five Heads Up releases mixed jazz and pop with varied cultural elements, featuring guest appearances by Trinidadian steel drummer Othello Molineaux, Nicaraguan salsa singer Luis Enrique, Floridian hand percussionist Robert Thomas Jr., and Cuban jazz reedman Paquito D’Rivera.
Industry recognition arrived in 1993 when his second Heads Up album, Dreams & Desires, earned the Billboard Contemporary Latin Jazz Album of the Year award. He served as musical director for the Hispanic Heritage awards at the Kennedy Center in 1997 and 1998, and Jazziz magazine readers voted him Favorite Jazz Artist in his category on multiple occasions. Additional credits include appearances on D’Rivera’s 100 Years of Latin Love Songs and Gloria Estefan’s Grammy-winning Abriendo Puertas.
For In the Mood, his sixth Heads Up project, Perera explored fresh musical ideas rather than repeating earlier formulas. The ten-track set balances melodic warmth with percussive momentum, yielding an expansive terrain of experimentation and reflection carried by forceful rhythmic motion.
Among his own pieces are the infectious samba “Joia” and the sultry “Six A.M.” The track “Coming Home,” first written in a Paraguayan folk style, receives an inventive contemporary-jazz treatment on this recording.
Perera continues to seek fresh concepts, test stylistic boundaries, and expand the harp’s expressive range while demonstrating that the instrument can remain both cool and hip.
Perera entered the world in Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, in 1952. At age twelve his mother placed him in a conservatory, where he chose the uncommon 36-string Paraguayan harp. His method involves exacting string bends that produce sharps and flats as he moves across the instrument with apparent ease, a fluency that reflects years of concentrated practice.
Around the same period the Beatles dominated popular music. Perera absorbed their songs along with Brazilian, South American folk, tango, and Paraguayan folk currents. Finding no teacher equipped to show him how to play pop material on the harp, he persisted on his own, solving the technical obstacles and shaping a personal voice.
After finishing a decade of study in Montevideo, Perera relocated to New York City in 1973 to build a professional career. Early club and restaurant work kept him playing folk pieces until a talent scout invited him to an exclusive Florida venue. There he began presenting original compositions, incorporating the influences of Weather Report and Antonio Carlos Jobim while treating the harp percussively, in the manner of a piano rather than a stringed instrument.
By the time Epic Records issued his debut album Erotica in 1990, Perera had established himself as a leading figure in electro-acoustic harp performance. His next five Heads Up releases mixed jazz and pop with varied cultural elements, featuring guest appearances by Trinidadian steel drummer Othello Molineaux, Nicaraguan salsa singer Luis Enrique, Floridian hand percussionist Robert Thomas Jr., and Cuban jazz reedman Paquito D’Rivera.
Industry recognition arrived in 1993 when his second Heads Up album, Dreams & Desires, earned the Billboard Contemporary Latin Jazz Album of the Year award. He served as musical director for the Hispanic Heritage awards at the Kennedy Center in 1997 and 1998, and Jazziz magazine readers voted him Favorite Jazz Artist in his category on multiple occasions. Additional credits include appearances on D’Rivera’s 100 Years of Latin Love Songs and Gloria Estefan’s Grammy-winning Abriendo Puertas.
For In the Mood, his sixth Heads Up project, Perera explored fresh musical ideas rather than repeating earlier formulas. The ten-track set balances melodic warmth with percussive momentum, yielding an expansive terrain of experimentation and reflection carried by forceful rhythmic motion.
Among his own pieces are the infectious samba “Joia” and the sultry “Six A.M.” The track “Coming Home,” first written in a Paraguayan folk style, receives an inventive contemporary-jazz treatment on this recording.
Perera continues to seek fresh concepts, test stylistic boundaries, and expand the harp’s expressive range while demonstrating that the instrument can remain both cool and hip.
Albums
