Having spent much of 2018 through 2020 distinguishing himself on Grammy-winning projects by
Wayne Shorter and
Kurt Elling,
Danilo Perez broadly expands his own globally-minded, deeply cross-pollinated jazz with 2022's
Crisalida. 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,
Crisalida is one of
Perez'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
Perez'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
Perez's wife, Chilean vocalist and saxophonist
Patricia Zarate, as well as Greek vocalist
Eirini Tornesaki.
Perez 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
Crisalida follows in equally organic fashion, straddling the line between modern creative jazz and contemporary classical, all the while making room for
Perez's
Global Messengers to add their distinctive musical voices to each track. ~ Matt Collar
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