Having spent much of 2018 through 2020 distinguishing himself on Grammy-winning projects by Wayne Shorter and Kurt Elling, Danilo Pérez broadly expands his own globally-minded, deeply cross-pollinated jazz with 2022's Crisálida. The album is the Panamanian-born pianist's fourth for Mack Avenue and picks up on many of the cross-cultural threads that informed 2010's Providencia and 2014's Panama 500. Consisting of two four-part suites, Crisálida is one of Pérez's most ambitious and philosophical, representing his long ...
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Having spent much of 2018 through 2020 distinguishing himself on Grammy-winning projects by Wayne Shorter and Kurt Elling, Danilo Pérez broadly expands his own globally-minded, deeply cross-pollinated jazz with 2022's Crisálida. The album is the Panamanian-born pianist's fourth for Mack Avenue and picks up on many of the cross-cultural threads that informed 2010's Providencia and 2014's Panama 500. Consisting of two four-part suites, Crisálida is one of Pérez's most ambitious and philosophical, representing his long-standing passion for such issues as immigration, environmentalism, and social change. Showcased on the album is his group the Global Messengers, an international cadre of alumni from Pérez's Berklee Global Jazz Institute. Among them are vocalist Farayi Malek, Iraqi-Jordanian violinist Layth Sidiq, Palestinian cellist Naseem Alatrash, Greek laouto player Vasilis Kostas, and Israeli-born percussionist Tareq Rantisi. Also featured is Pérez's wife, Chilean vocalist and saxophonist Patricia Zarate, as well as Greek vocalist Eirini Tornesaki. Pérez establishes his ambitious, pan-continental atmosphere from the start on the Latin- and Eastern-inflected "Rising from Love." Beginning with a delicate flute and piano intro, the song segues into a bright vocal section featuring the Greek Kalesma Children's Choir of the Ark of the World. From there, it morphs organically into Sidiq and Kostas' shimmering violin and laouto duo that eventually frames Malek's yearning vocal melody. The rest of Crisálida follows in equally organic fashion, straddling the line between modern creative jazz and contemporary classical, all the while making room for Pérez's Global Messengers to add their distinctive musical voices to each track. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi
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