Danilo Perez: Across the Crystal Sea (2008)

Danilo Perez was born in Panama in 1966. He is considered one of the finest contemporary pianists and jazz composers of our era.

Danilo started his musical training at 3 years old with his father Danilo Sr, a professional bandleader and singer, gave Danilo Jr. his first set of bongos. By the time he was 10 years of age he was studying the European Classical Piano repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama, eventually transferring to the Berklee College of Music to study Jazz composition and then serving as a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music. While growing up in Panama, Perez was notably influenced by the works of Gershwin, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and his mentor in spirit Thelonious Monk.

Tracklist:

1. Across The Crystal Sea

2. Rays And Shadows
3. Lazy Afternoon
4. The Purple Condor
5. If I Forget You
6. (All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings
7. The Saga Of Rita Joe
8. Another Autumn
Personnel:
Danilo Perez — piano
Claus Ogerman — conducted and arranged
Cassandra Wilson — vocals (on 3 & 6)
Christian McBride — bass
Lewis Nash — drums
Luis Quintero — percussion
Bruce Dukov — concert master
Across The Crystal Sea - Conducted and Arranged by Claus Ogerman
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Danilo Perez: ... till then (2003)

With Till Then, Danilo Perez pays tribute to popular composers he feels have made a difference in the world. Though the Panamanian pianist offers a few original compositions, the work of other composers — well-known, consequential people — is the main focus of this Tommy LiPuma-produced CD. Some of the more myopic people in the jazz world will automatically assume that if Perez is using jazz to salute popular composers, he must be thinking of Tin Pan Alley. But in fact, there are no Tin Pan Alley standards on Till Then — no George Gershwin, no Irving Berlin, no Cole Porter, no Harry Warren. And that's just as well because as dynamic as those legends were, worthwhile popular music didn't end with Tin Pan Alley (contrary to what the Stanley Crouch/Wynton Marsalis crowd would have listeners believe). Perez, thankfully, is smart enough to realize that — and on Till Then, he finds the acoustic post-bop possibilities in melodies by Stevie Wonder ("Overjoyed") and Joni Mitchell ("Fiddle and the Drum") as well as several Latin American legends, who range from salsa innovator Rubén Blades ("Paula C") to Brazilian star Milton Nascimento ("Vera Cruz"). Perez has long had a pan-Latin outlook — in other words, he looks to different parts of the Latin world for musical inspiration — and Till Then reflects that. Anyone who interprets Chico Buarque's "Trocando Em Miúdos" (another great Brazilian melody), Cuban artist Silvio Rodríguez' "Rabo de Nube," and Chilean singer Violeta Parra's "Gracias a la Vida" on the same CD obviously isn't limiting himself to any one particular area of the Latin spectrum. While Till Then is far-reaching and unpredictable, it's also focused and cohesive; clearly, Perez knows exactly what he's doing on this inspired addition to his catalog.

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... till then (RS) / ... till then (HF) @ 320K

Wayne Shorter: Alegria (2003)

Following the release of the critically acclaimed Footprints Live!, this CD is saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter's first studio recording as a leader since the Grammy-winning 1994 release, High Life. Shorter is joined by pianists Danilo Perez and Brad Mehldau, bassist John Patitucci, drummers Terri Lyne Carrington and Brian Blade, and percussionist Alex Acuna. Backed by a superb woodwind and brass ensemble, this project offers a comprehensive and sophisticated presentation of Shorter's music, from the Andalusian airs on "Vendiendo Alegria" by Antonio Molina to a reincarnation of "Capricorn II" from his mid-'60s Miles Davis days. Shorter's soprano and tenor playing is his most expressive in years, and producer Robert Sadin (who worked on Herbie Hancock's Gershwin's World and Kathleen Battle's So Many Stars) has provided Shorter with his most poignant sonic setting on record. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

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Alegria (RS) / Alegria (HF) @ 320K