Danilo Perez, Providencia
Featured Album
Crystallizing new elements of a recent growth spurt
Technique is not an issue for Perez, a child prodigy who has been playing piano since the age of three. Since first making a name for himself in the early '90s, he has carved out a distinct niche as an artist who blends jazz with Latin music in a way that incorporates his native Panama and South American stylings alongside Afro-Cuban rhythms. But Providencia crystallizes new elements of Perez's more recent growth spurt. There is a confidence and complexity to his compositions — at least partly due to his near-decade long stint with the sophisticated writer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter — and the familiarity he has developed over five years with his trio (including bassist Ben Street and drummer Adam Cruz). Then there is his collaboration on an orchestral project (Across The Crystal Sea) with Claus Ogerman and a recent tour with a multi-culti ensemble that resurrects the pan-nationality of his mentor Dizzy Gillespie's later big bands.
Providencia brings all these elements and influences together with remarkable efficiency and cohesion. The opening five-part suite, "Daniela's Chronicles," sets the tone in a multi-faceted tribute to Perez's daughter featuring classical flourishes, tropical percussion (including steel pans) and energetic freebop exchanges. Occasionally, Perez pares the instrumentation down to his core trio, as on a gorgeous cover of "Irremediablemente Solo," by Panamanian Avelino Munoz, which the pianist first recorded on his eponymous 1992 debut. On other tracks, such as "Oracle" and the funky "Cobilla," percussionists (especially Jamey Haddad of Lebanon and the conguero Ernesto Diaz) add a Dizzy-like spice to the standard rhythm section. On those songs and a few others ("Galactic Panama" and in duet on the two "Maze" numbers), Perez also features Indian alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, blowing rapid modulations and sinuous phrases for what Perez has dubbed "some 'Salt Peanuts' [a noted Gillespie tune] mixed in with some basmati rice." Last but not least, the "Bridge of Life" songs include passages written for a woodwind quartet that reflects Perez's growth with classical forms and his collaboration with Ogerman.
That's a lot of flavors in one 50-minute stew. But Perez's deft balance of zesty seasoning and meat-and-potatoes craft makes it a musical staple that works different taste buds with each satisfying sampling.
