Digital Interviews: When did you start playing music?

Danilo Perez: Well, since I was two years old. I was playing with my father. I would come to the gig with my father. I knew since I was very young -- seven, eight, nine years old -- that I wanted to play music the rest of my life. I didn’t know “professionally,” but for sure as a hobby.

DI: When did you start thinking about it as a career?

DP: I was around music all the time. I went to the Classical Conservatory -- National Conservatory of Panama. I played the best gigs and opportunities in my country. At the same time, I was majoring in Electronics. At seventeen I won a scholarship to go to Indiana University. I guess that was the first time when I really knew that I wanted to pursue it. I came to the United States, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and I went to Berklee College of Music in Boston. Being around that scene really made me decide I wanted to go full force with music.

DI: What did you learn by attending Berklee?

DP: I guess, the first year was an idea of what I would expect as a quality musician on the scene. It was very competitive. I learned a lot about composition. I learned a lot about the music from people like Donald Brown, Phil Wilson, Howard Cook and Herb Pomeroy. I got to play in some groups with some great musicians like Slide Hampton, James Moody, you know.

DI: What was playing with Dizzy Gillespie like?

DP: That was an incredible experience. I learned a lot about humanity, how to enjoy music -- how to enjoy what you’re doing even more, because my father taught me that. I enjoyed being around all the great musicians and traveling. Also, I learned a lot about harmony, music, melody and reading. He taught me a lot about music -- how to connect, how to make one note work in a lot of different chords.

DI: Your self-titled debut album was released in the early ‘90s. What did you want that album to be?

DP: Basically to reflect where I was and all of my influences. It was the music that I had to offer at that time.

DI: How would you describe your second release, The Journey?

DP: A lot of people feel that it is going to “stay” for a long time, because that album was dealing with issues that I was going through -- the Panamanian invasion, the acknowledgement of the African. There were a lot of feelings going through that record. I guess my voice as a writer and composer and as a pianist really came across because it was coming from inside. It was really great for me because it allowed me to know myself a little better.

DI: So you gained the confidence in putting more messages into your music?

DP: Yeah. Or to reach deeper, you know.

DI: You did some special things with the Panamanian Symphony Orchestra.

DP: That was great. That was an experiment that we did -- part of the music of The Journey. We played with the Symphony, and I did some piano solos. It was a great experience. I played Gershwin, some classical music, too, and it was a lot of work.

DI: What memories do you have playing at the Olympics?

DP: Chances like that remind you of the music that you are playing. You learn a lot from being around those great musicians. That opportunity, just symbolically, was a dream.

DI: You also toured with Wynton Marsalis. It must have been quite an honor.

DP: Definitely.

DI: What did you learn from him?

DP: The connection with the root of this music -- New Orleans. I really enjoy being around those cats, because they really love the music. I discovered that New Orleans really is a part of the Caribbean, the way they play the beat. I also re-encountered myself with Thelonious Monk. When we play Thelonious Monk, I “re-encounter” Thelonious Monk, you know?

DI: When you released the Panamonk album in 1996, did you take Monk’s music and play it your own way, or did you try to stay faithful to it?

DP: Of course, nobody can play like Thelonious, so I could only play like myself. What a lot of people appreciate from that record, I think, was the fact that they could hear my voice coming through the music. I’m a very original writer and composer. It is very difficult to play music from Monk and bring your own thoughts to it. It’s almost like you have to say the same words, so I guess that’s what I did. I added a lot of myself to that music. A perfect description of the music is “Panamonk.” I wasn’t trying to play like him, but I had certainly studied a lot of Monk.

DI: In 1998 you released Central Avenue. How did you feel when newspapers and magazines started to award this album?

DP: Well, that was great, but that was already happening since The Journey. Then Panamonk opened the doors -- we got nominated for Grammys and stuff. We were in the New York Times. Then Central Avenue, it built up through that. The Times did a feature, we got nominated for the Grammy, and it was just “deeper.” It was great to be appreciated for the things that you’re trying to do that are risky. I took a folk singer and put her with the jazz tradition and rhythm section. I started taking melodies, trying to put them with the rhythm from my country. It’s really wonderful to be appreciated for the things that you’re trying to do.

DI: It sounds like you don’t want to be too alternative, but you don’t want to be too conventional either.

DP: I feel that the music is the moment. It should reflect the personality -- your personality, your view about life. We are an entity that changes with years, so your music should evolve, too. Once you discover something that people like and works, I think you should strive for more, always. That’s really what I’m trying -- to keep growing, to be faithful to my feelings and to be faithful to myself growing as an individual.

DI: You also spend time teaching. Why do you give back like that?

DP: Because I have been very blessed to get a lot of people giving to me. I’ve learned a lot. Also, because I think I have the facility to reach people. My fathers were teachers, educators -- the amount of work that they did and they were never recognized. I said, “I’d never do that.” You know, I couldn’t help it. I just love being able to touch and inspire people -- and to make them find themselves and send it back to me. It makes me feel better. That exchange is great.

DI: Tell us about the new album, Motherland.

DP: It’s got a lot of Panamanian music on it, but also has the American, European, African influence. You can see where it came from. It kind of recreated how complex the Americas is -- a lot of colors, you know? That’s what the record’s about. It’s really trying to recreate the complexity of the Americas in the music -- how complex the American personality is, through the music.

DI: Which do you enjoy more, touring or recording?

DP: It becomes two types. Sometimes I enjoy touring, but sometimes I enjoy being home writing after playing music. Sometimes I love teaching. Nothing else speaks to me more than teaching. Right now, I’m in the mood of touring, just “playing out.”

DI: What would you like to do in the future?

DP: There are some things I’d like to do with John Patitucci, and a duet with Steve Lacy that I would love to keep going. There’s a recording project with Wayne Shorter that needs to be finished, so we’re working on it.

DI: Will we see more solo albums?

DP: Yes, more stuff coming up. Definitely.

DI: What words of wisdom would you give to a young musician?

DP: If they love the music, go for it. If they don’t, do something else. If you do love the music, then do it with all the passion and all the love that it requires. Just think of yourselves as messengers of peace and medicine for the soul -- you know, “doctors of the soul.” So, practice a lot, but that goes beyond even saying. When you love something, you don’t think about that -- you just do it. Practice and be very aware of who you are and what you have to bring to this music.