After two
albums that emphasized the composing side of his ever-burgeoning art, Oscar
Perez - who JazzTimes has described as "a pianist of impeccable technique
and fluency" - presents his "blowing" side with the album
Prepare a Place for Me, which he calls "a real playing record." To be
released October 13, 2015, by Myna Records, the album sees the native New
Yorker team with the rhythm duo of bassist Thomson Kneeland and drummer
Alvester Garnett, plus alto saxophonist Bruce Williams on five of the nine
tracks.
Perez and
company essay seven of the pianist's glittering, grooving originals, as well as
an intoxicating, flamenco-tinged recasting of Thelonious Monk's "Round
Midnight" and a lovely interpretation of the Hoagy Carmichael ballad
"The Nearness of You." Reviewing his septet album Afropean Affair in
2011, JazzTimes praised Perez as "an extraordinary composer who blends the
rhythmic complexity of Latin American music with the elegant harmonies of
jazz," while DownBeat chimed in by marveling over the music's
"wondrous interaction of piano and band." With Williams, Kneeland and
Garnett alongside, Perez will play album-release shows on October 8 at Trumpets
in Montclair, NJ, as well as on October 26 at Cornelia Street Café in
Manhattan.
Perez - a
protégé of Danilo Perez and Sir Roland Hanna - won 2nd prize in the venerable
Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition in Florida last year, with his personal
rendition of "The Nearness of You" standing out. "I've always
considered myself a composer as much as a player," he says. "But I
played the competition and wanted to make playing the focus of my next album.
Recording with cats I've performed live with for awhile was really important to
the feel of this record. There's a lot of listening and interplay in the trio
with Thomson and Alvester - the music tends to simmer, with solos developing in
a slow burn. Bruce is a kindred spirit, too, and his playing tends to push the
harmony, but in a soulful way."
Prepare a
Place for Me kicks off with a straight-ahead jazz version of "Just
Everything," an engaging Perez tune originally cast as a Spanish-titled
bolero ("Solamente Todo") on his quintet debut album, Nuevo Comienzo,
from 2005. The album's originals also include the aptly titled "Snake
Charm" and Williams-led swinger "Headin' Over" (with Perez's
writing on that tune influenced by Cedar Walton), as well as the intricate
"Message to Monterey." Then there are "Prepare a Place for
Me," the absorbing, gospel-inspired title track, and "Mushroom
City," which is built on an infectious Brazilian baiao groove. Perez's
personal favorite is the closer "Song for Ofelia," about which the
pianist says: "It has a special place in my heart. I wrote it after the
passing of my grandmother Ofelia Betancur. She was the matriarch of the entire
family and showed incredible strength through many of life's difficulties. My
daughter Ofelia has her same spirit."
Throughout
Prepare a Place for Me, Perez's playing sparkles and dances with melodic
interest and rhythmic verve, intertwined with his bass/drum partners and the
long-breathed lines of Williams. About their interaction, the pianist says:
"When you're younger, you're out to impress with your playing, aiming to
turn heads. But now I feel that the emphasis is on just making the music all it
can be - not concentrating on sounding as impressive as possible as an
individual but on trying to make the other players sound great. I want the vibe
to be as communal as can be, and I think that's when music - especially jazz
improvisation - thrives."
Pianist-composer
Oscar Perez was raised in Queens, NY, on his father's Cuban folk music, with
piano lessons and playing in the church band a key part of his young life. He
attended New York's "Fame" academy of LaGuardia High School for the Performing
Arts, studying with classical teachers. He later graduated from the Jazz
Performance program at the University of North Florida, already composing there
for small groups and big band. His fascination with the beautiful energy of
Latin music took him to New England Conservatory in Boston to study with Danilo
Perez, an enduring influence. Oscar completed his Master's Degree at the Aaron
Copland School of Music at Queens College, studying there with Sir Roland
Hanna. While at Queens College, he married his love of jazz improvisation with
the classical piano literature. Perez's early twenties saw him share stages
with such jazz icons as Bunky Green, George Russell, Curtis Fuller and George
Garzone.
Since moving
back to the New York area, Perez has spent recent years on the road with such
jazz confreres as trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, bassist Christian McBride,
trumpeter Eddie Allen, saxophonist Mike Lee, trombonist Steve Turre, guitarist
Dave Stryker, vocalists Melissa Walker and Charenee Wade, and saxophonist
Adrian Cunningham. Perez also toured as a pianist for vocalist Phoebe Snow,
performing in such top pop venues as The Theatre at Madison Square Garden and
Webster Hall. He has served as music director for St Edward's Church in Harlem.
His longstanding commitment to church music has been embodied in the gospel
music he explores as accompanist for the Nightingale/Bamford Gospel Choir.
Perez has toured across North America, Latin America and Europe, as well as
through Russia.
A devoted
educator, Perez joins the Jazz Piano faculty at New Jersey's Montclair State
University this fall. He has had close associations with the Kupferberg Center
at Queens College, Juilliard School, Carnegie Hall, New York Pops, JazzHouse
Kids and Jazz at Lincoln Center. He received a 2006 ASCAP/IAJE Commission in
honor of Billy Strayhorn, with Perez's group featuring alto saxophonist Antonio
Hart premiering the work at the 2007 International Association of Jazz
Education Convention. In 2014, Perez won Second Prize in the Jacksonville Jazz
Piano Competition.
Perez's
debut album, Nuevo Comienzo (2007), featured a New York quintet featuring such
special guests as trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and guitarist Peter Bernstein,
with the leader's compositions blending Latin music and jazz in innovative
arrangements. The pianist's second album, Afropean Affair (2011), was the
result of a New Works Grant by Chamber Music America for an extended
composition to be performed by his septet Oscar Perez Nuevo Comienzo. Balancing
poise and power, the group features Stacy Dillard (tenor and soprano
saxophone), Greg Glassman (trumpet and flugelhorn), Anthony Perez (bass),
Emiliano Valerio (percussion), Jerome Jennings (drums) and Charenee Wade
(vocals).
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