DANILO PÉREZ Channels his Panamanian Heritage and
Creates Musical Narrative Celebrating 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Pacific Ocean on Panama 500,
Available February 4 via Mack Avenue Records
Album Features Two Rhythm Sections:
John Patitucci & Brian Blade
Ben Street & Adam Cruz
"Danilo is open to whatever comes, in that zero-gravity kind
of way. When we become weightless, he doesn't start looking
for things to hold on to." - Wayne Shorter
"The
pianist Danilo Pérez's conception of jazz is wide-angle and
egalitarian, if not utopian. He's a hard-core linker of traditions and
rhythms and disciplines; he wants everything to connect." - The New York Times
In
1513, Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of
Panama, becoming the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean and
founding the first permanent European settlement in the Americas. Those
events continue to resonate five centuries later as Panama celebrates
the landmark anniversary. On his new Mack Avenue release Panama 500, favorite son Danilo Pérez
adds his voice to the tributes with a stunning portrait of his native
land, its storied history, rich culture and fierce struggles.
Panama 500
is Pérez' most ambitious project to date, the furthest evolution yet of
what the pianist/composer calls "three-dimensional music." His blend of
influences makes him the ideal musical chronicler of his country's
history: already a land bridge between the Americas with a vibrant
indigenous culture, Panama also began to absorb European culture into
its own following Balboa's arrival. Pérez similarly weaves together jazz
and Pan-American folkloric traditions with influences from European
classical music.
"I
have been working for years to make music that has an identity very
similar to the role that Panama plays in the world," Pérez says. "It's a
place where a lot of influences from all over the world come together."
Pérez
refers to Balboa's arrival as a "rediscovery," a word that succinctly
encapsulates both the importance of his accomplishment and the
controversy inherent in European colonization. As he traces Panama's
evolution over the 12 tracks on Panama 500, he
gives literal voice to the indigenous Guna Indians of Panama, who
provide intermittent narration to lend their own perspective on that
history.
As
Harvard professor Davíd Carrasco writes in his liner notes, "The
magical performances in this album emerge from the encounters of
indigenous shamans, Spanish migrants of desire, the human agony of
African slaves, multicultural love, and transcendent improvisations on
agony and love."
To
realize his expansive vision for this music, Pérez pulled together a
host of musicians from his various endeavors. The album features both of
his longest-running rhythm sections-trio mates Ben Street and Adam Cruz; as well as bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade,
with whom Pérez works in the acclaimed Wayne Shorter Quartet. "There's a
specific spectrum of language that I've developed with both trios,"
Pérez says. "With Ben and Adam, we use Latin American vocabularies to
connect closer with jazz and to expand on the idea of clave. And with
John and Brian, it's that language that we've developed playing with
Wayne over the years that is indescribable. There's a zero-gravity
component to it, where things come out of nowhere."
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credit: Raj Naik & Luke Severn
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The rhythmic density is compounded throughout Panama 500 by percussionists from three different countries: Roman Díaz from Cuba, Rogério Boccato from Brazil; and Milagros Blades and Ricaurte Villarreal from Panama. The classical influence, as well as evidence of Pérez' commitment to education, arrives in the form of violinist Alex Hargreaves,
a former student of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute, the
globally-minded program for which Pérez serves as artistic director.
Pérez explains that he composed the music for Panama 500
almost as the score for an imaginary film about the country's past and
present. It opens with "Rediscovery Of The South Sea," which serves as
an overture to the suite and loosely describes the Spaniards' journey
through the jungle. Díaz' percussion and chanting are meant to invoke
the indigenous people contrasted against the more classically influenced
melody; Hargreaves later plays an Asian-inflected melody, hinting at
the connection with the East that the opening of the Pacific would
facilitate. A dense, freely improvised passage with Street and Cruz was
added, Pérez laughingly says, because "I'm sure the Spaniards got lost
many times. So we went into the studio and I told Ben and Adam to play
in that section as if they were lost in the jungle."The track ends with
the first of the Guna narrations, adding the insight of someone who was
there to witness this portentous arrival. It briefly credits the "Great
Father" and "Great Mother" with the creation of the Earth and claims
that "this immense continent was granted to us as a loan so that we take
care of it."
The
title track builds upon the rhythm of La Denesa, a traditional
Panamanian folkloric dance, and builds into a celebration of how far the
nation has come. And as with any celebration, by the end of the
festivities things have loosened up a bit. "When the piano brings the
melody back," Pérez says, "I'm trying to play like it's two o'clock in the morning and the left hand is drunk."
"Reflections On The South Sea" opens with an elegant contrapuntal dance between the piano and Sachi Patitucci's
cello. After the robust spirit of the previous track, Pérez intended
this piece to lend a more somber remembrance from the perspective of the
ocean itself. "It hasn't been completely easy," he says of the isthmus'
history. "It's been full of struggles as well as victories. I always
feel like the sea is the main witness to what happened. I wish we could
understand what it has to say."
Named
for the Guna term for the Americas, "Abia Yala" begins with a duet
between the piano and the native pan flute before segueing into a trio
piece with Patitucci and Blade. Both the old world/new world
collaboration and the multi-cultural aspect of the trio, Pérez says,
"are striving to send a message of hope, acceptance, respect and peace."
The music, he continues, is an extension of his work as a UNESCO Artist
for Peace. "I'm working every second to make examples of how music can
become a tool for the commonality of humanity."
"Gratitude"
is an example of the expanded clave approach developed with Street and
Cruz, and simply expresses the titular sentiment to so many of the
mentors and loved ones in Pérez' life. "I started thinking about
everyone from my father and mother to my teachers, Dizzy Gillespie to
Steve Lacy to Jack DeJohnette and Roy Haynes, all the way to Wayne
Shorter, my wife, my kids. I felt so much gratitude while I was making
this record. If you look at the world there's a lot of people not eating
or living in warzones. I have the opportunity to be here and do this,
and I listen to this piece with tears coming out of my eyes."
2014
marks the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Panama Canal, an
occasion which Pérez marks in his three-part "Canal Suite." Largely
improvised in the studio, the piece further highlights Pérez'
educational endeavors by featuring percussionist Milagros Blades,
a young student of the Panama City-based Fundación Danilo Pérez.
Another Patitucci/Blade trio exploration follows, aptly titled "The
Expedition."
A
pair of Guna narrations frames the final track, "Panama Viejo," a
standard penned by Ricardo Fábrega, whose lyrics serenade old Panama,
left in now-beautiful ruins by brutal pirate attacks. These final pieces
end the suite on a combination of reflection, reminiscence, hope and
respect.
"More
than focusing on rediscovery we should focus on celebrating our
histories, our stories, our music, our culture," Pérez concludes. "My
vision is to create music that serves as a cultural passport, hopefully
with Panama as the bridge of the world."
Upcoming Danilo Pérez Tour Dates:
* January 17 / Panama Jazz Festival / Panama City, Panama
** February 6-9 / Jazz Standard / New York, NY
** February 10 / World Cafe Live / Philadelphia, PA
** February 11-12 / Blues Alley / Washington, DC
** February 15-16 / Scullers Jazz Club / Boston, MA
** March 9-23 / European Tour / TBA
*** May 9 / Miami International Jazz Festival / Miami, FL
May 22 / SFJAZZ (special guest w/ Miguel Zenon) / San Francisco, CA
*** August 1 / Deer Isle Jazz Festival / Stonington, ME
August 3 / Newport Jazz Festival (w/ Ben Street, Adam Cruz & Roman Diaz) / Newport, RI
* = w/ John Patitucci, Adam Cruz, Roman Diaz and Alex Hargreaves
** = w/ Ben Street, Adam Cruz, Roman Diaz and Alex Hargreaves
*** = w/ Ben Street & Adam Cruz
Danilo Pérez· Panama 500
Mack Avenue Records · Release Date: February 4, 2013
For more information on Danilo Pérez, please visit daniloperez.com
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