AVAILABLE NOW:
DANILO PÉREZ Creates a Cultural Passport with
Stunning Tribute to Panama on Panama 500
Coincides with 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of the
Pacific Ocean and 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."
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credit: Raj Naik & Luke Severn
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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."
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.
Additionally, the album features guest cellist Sachi Patitucci on one track.
"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."
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Danilo Perez - Panama 500 - EPK
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Upcoming Danilo Pérez Tour Dates:
** February 6-9 / Jazz Standard / New York, NY
** 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/ 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
For national media inquiries, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-050
Amy Miller · amy@dlmediamusic.com
Don Lucoff · don@dlmediamusic.com
MACK AVENUE · the road to great music · mackavenue.com
Information and press materials (including album covers, promotional photos and bios)
on all DL Media artists can be found at our new website: dlmediamusic.com
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