Uniting
internationally acclaimed jazz artists, renowned educators and jazz fans from
around the globe, the 12th Annual Panama Jazz Festival will be held January
12-17, 2015 at The City of Knowledge in Panama City and the recently founded
Danilo's Jazz Club located at the American Trade Hotel in the Old Quarter of
Panama City. The festival honors multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy, whose
father was Panamanian.
Among
the headliners for this year's festival is Founder and Artistic Director Danilo
Pérez and his recently assembled Children of The Light Trio, featuring bassist
John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, who is also the first Resident Artist
of the Festival.
Additional
headliners include jazz legend Benny Golson Quartet, Ruben Blades, Miguel
Zenón, Pedrito Martinez, Latin pop singer and songwriter Omar Alfanno, Brian
Blade and The Fellowship Band, Chilean saxophonist Patricia Zarate with her
band MapuJazz and special guest singer Claudia Acuña, and Phil Ranelin and Matt
Marvuglio giving a special tribute to Eric Dolphy.
German
duo Uwe Kropinski (guitar) & Michael Heupel (flute) will be featured, as
well as international artists and clinicians such as Richie Barshay (USA), Ehud
Ettud (Israel), Tom Patitucci (USA), Jorge Perez (Peru), Kevin Harris (USA),
Marco Pignataro (Italy), Ricardo del Fra (France), Orion Lion (Chile), Shea
Welsh (USA), Sissy Castrogiovanni (Italy) among many others.
Furthermore,
the festival will host the 3rd Latin American Music Therapy Symposium, bringing
music therapists from the Chile, Argentina, Panama, Venezuela, Costa Rica
(among other Latin American countries) and the United States together to
present on the therapeutic effects of music.
Since
its inception in 2003, the Panama Jazz Festival has attracted over 220,000 jazz
fans worldwide, has raised over 1 million dollars, and has announced over 3.5
million dollars in scholarships on an international level. Last year, the
festival welcomed 2,000 students from around the world who participated in the
educational events.
Participating
educational institutions include Boston-based institutions, Berklee College of
Music and the New England Conservatory, which will be holding auditions for
admission and scholarships. The Berklee Global Jazz Institute will hold master
classes, perform social work with Panamanian youth and perform in various
settings throughout the festival. Berklee will repeat last years innovative
program where students will earn college performance credit for the college. In
addition to these various universities, Paris Conservatory (France) and
Crossroads High School (Los Angeles, CA) will be participating in this year's
events.
Pianist,
composer, educator and social activist, Danilo Pérez is among the most
influential and dynamic musicians of our time.
Born in
Panama in 1965, Pérez started his musical studies when he was three years old
with his father, a bandleader and singer. By age 10, he was studying the
European classical piano repertoire at the National Conservatory in Panama.
After receiving his bachelor's degree in electronics in Panama, he studied at
the prestigious Berklee College of Music. From 1985-88, while still a student,
he performed with Jon Hendricks, Terence Blanchard, Claudio Roditi and Paquito
D'Rivera. Quickly established as a young master, he soon toured and/or recorded
with artists such as Dizzy Gillespie (with the trumpeter's United Nations
Orchestra, 1989-1992), Wayne Shorter, Steve Lacy, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie
Haden, Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Tito Puente, Wynton Marsalis, John
Patitucci, Tom Harrell, Gary Burton, and Roy Haynes.
In 1993,
Pérez turned his focus to his own ensembles and recording projects, releasing
eight albums as a leader, earning Grammy® and Latin Grammy® nominations for
Central Avenue (1989), Motherland (2000) and Across The Crystal Sea (2008).
Additionally, Pérez released Providencia, his debut for Mack Avenue Records, in
August of 2010. The album was also nominated for a 2011 Grammy® Award in the
category of "Best Instrumental Jazz Album." His latest album in
Panama 500 released in 2014 by Mack Avenue Records.
Pérez,
who served as Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, has received a variety of awards
for his musical achievements, activism and social work efforts. He currently
serves as UNESCO Artist for Peace, Founder and Artistic Director of the Panama
Jazz Festival, and Artistic Director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in
Boston's Berklee, During the Gala of the jazz festival on January 14th, 2015 he
will be appointed Cultural Ambassador of the Republic of Panama serving his
second term as such.
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