A world class pianist and adroit composer
Jazz Times Magazine

Danilo Pérez has no qualms about wading right into an artistic challege
Zan Stewart, Los Angeles Times

Danilo Pérez intelligent, exciting and stylistically authentic piano sounds have made him a leader in the new generation of jazz musicians. He was prominently referenced as a "stellar young player" in the June 1995 New York Time Magazine cover story on Wynton Marsalis and "The New Jazz Age". Marsalis himself recognized Pérez talent and versatility when he invited the young pianist to tour Poland with him in 1995, making him the first Latin artist to perform in his band. Pérez earned high marks from the demanding bandleader for his ability to easily cross-over from his Latin music roots to perform Jazz classics.
Cultural traces and a variety of musical influences are the essence of Pérez work. "I've been working on this kind of mixture," Pérez explains. "I want the music to meld, so you can't simply say, 'that's Latin music, this is Jazz and that is classical'. It's just music. Even though we're playing Latin rhythms, my music always involves African elements, cross rhythms and odd meters. The instruments selected by my percussion players often come from Africa. I mix all that with my vision of the blues, contemporary Jazz, with swing and other traditons, and with elements of my own childhood classical training."

Mr. Pérez is a smart gifted pianist, and he has placed himself right at the nexus of several cultural streams. He has an immense sound, bigger than most other pianists.
Peter Watrous, The New York Times.

Danilo Pérez was born in Panama in 1966. He began his musical studies at the age of three when his father, a bandleader and singer, gave him aset of bongos. Pérez started playing piano five years later, studying the European classical repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama. In 1985 he came to Berklee in Boston to study and discovered his love for Jazz. "The first time I heard Bill Evans, I flipped," he recalls. "I never knew the piano could sound so beautiful."
In 1987, Pérez took time off from school to perform with local legend Jon Hendricks. While finishing his degree in Jazz composition, he put his Latin background to good use, dividing his time between playing keyboards for brazilian trumpeter Claudio Roditi and assuming piano and musical director responsabilities for Paquito D'Rivera Havana-New York Music Ensemble. Pérez produced the critically-acclaimed Reunion album (Messidor) featuring D'Rivera and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. Pérez was honored as the Most Outstanding Musicians by the Boston Jazz Society in 1989 and was also selected as a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk Competition held in Washington DC.
His command of the eclectic, post-bop Latin style solidified during a four year tenure (1989-1992) with Dizzy Gillespie. A high reccomendation from D'Rivera helped Pérez land his gig with the innovative trumpeter and his United Nations Orchestra. Pérez performed during induction ceremonies at the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Awards when Gillespie was honored by the U.S. President and other dignitaries. Pérez composed much of the musical score for a 1990 European film starring Gillespie, "The Winter in Lisbon", and performed on the soundtrack with Gillespie, Grady Tate and George Mraz. Pérez is featured on Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra release, the 1992 Grammy award-winning Live at the Royal Festival Hall (Enja). He toured worldwide with Freddie Hubbard, Red Rodney, Claudio Roditi, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Slide Hampton, George Mraz and Louis Nash during the Diamond Jubilee Celebration Tribute to Gillespie. The Diamond Jubilee Tribute culminated in a live recording at the Blue Note, To Bird With Love (Telarc), a project that featured Pérez.

A strong composer. A 24-karat performance that made it clear
why Dizzy Gillespie employed him in his ensemble.
Andrew Gilbert, LA Village View.

He also performed with George Benson, Clark Terry, Terence Blanchard, Brandford Marsalis, Roy Haynes, Charlie Haden, Lionel Hampton, Joe Lovano, Steve Turre, Dave Valentine, Paul Motian, Flora Purim, Nick Brignola, Jay Ashby, Tom Harrell and others. Pérez performed as a special guest artist on Arturo Sandoval's 1994 Grammy-winning album in the Best Latin Jazz category, Danzňn.
Pérez own projects have received favorable response from critics, musicians and fans. His self-titled debut recordint, with Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Santi Debriano, Reuben Blades and David Sanchez, established his intent to successfully meld contemporary Western classical and Jazz repertoires with Latin rhythms. His second Novus release of original compositions, The Journey, is an epic dreamscape which traces the African experience in the Americas. Featuring Andy Gonzalez, bass; Ignacio Berroa, drums; Giovanni Hidalgo, Kimati Dinizulu and Milton Cardona, percussion; Larry Grenadier, bass; George Garzone, tenor sax and David Sanchez, tenor and soprano sax, Pérez takes his music a step forward rather than simply creating a synthesis of Latin music, Jazz and classical. The CD was distinguished with ****1/2 from Downbeat and named in the Top Ten Albums of 1994 by The Village Voice, The New York Times, Billboard, The Boston Globe, Latino Music, Pittsburgh Post Gazette and was named as a Critics' Choice by Jazziz. In 1995, Pérez was invited to perform with The Panamian Symphony Orchestra in both his native country and Venezuela. The first part of the program presented the music of George Gershwin; the second featured part of Pérez's The Journey.

"The Journey" is one of the most adventurous albums of the past year,
and certainly one of the most innovative.
Leonard Feather, Jazz Time Magazine.

Pérez' talents as film score composer attracted the attention of Blackside Inc., the company which won six Emmys and an Accademy Award for "Eyes On The Prize", the fourteen-hour series on the American civil rights movement. He composed the music for one segment of Blackside's six-hour series "BreakThrough: People of Color in America Scene", slated to air on PBS in Fall 1995.

Biography courtesy of EMMECI.