Across The Crystal Sea Conducted/Arranged By Claus Ogerman

From the Artist

"This was a big test for me," says Pérez, the Panama-born, Boston-based pianist who has been a member of Wayne Shorter's quartet for several years. "My experience with Wayne taught me how to go to unknown places. But when it came to working with Claus, it was another kind of adventure where I was called upon to touch the lyrical side of my playing. Claus is a master of colors. As the musical director, he provided me with both a story and a landscape, and then told me, 'I want you to paint.'"

About the Artist

Born in Panama in 1966, Pérez started his musical studies at 3 with his bandleader/singer father, and by the age 10 was studying the European classical piano repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama. He later went on to attend Berklee College of Music, during which time he performed with Jon Hendricks, Terence Blanchard, Claudio Roditi and Paquito D'Rivera. From 1989-92, he was a member of Dizzy Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra. Since then Pérez has toured and recorded with Steve Lacy, Charlie Haden, Joe Lovano, Tom Harrell, Gary Burton, Roy Haynes, and many others. Grammy Award winner, Pérez has led his own groups since the early '90s, recording such remarkable major label albums as his 1993 eponymous debut, The Journey (1994), Panamonk (1996), Central Avenue (1998), Motherland (2000) and ...Til Then (2003). His last two CDs, Danilo Pérez Trio Live at the Jazz Showcase (2005) and Danilo Pérez Big Band's Panama Suite (2007), were both released via Artist/Share. In 2003 Pérez founded the Panama Jazz Festival and in 2005 set up the Danilo Pérez Foundation to promote Panamanian art and culture. Currently, he serves as the Ambassador of Goodwill for UNICEF, Artistic Advisor of the Mellon Jazz Up Close series at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and faculty member of New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music in Boston.