Global Jazz Forum: Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, and Ralph Peterson Jr.

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Event Dates
Zero Gravity Room
1260 Boylston Street
Boston
MA
02215
United States

Virtuosic bandmates Danilo Pérez B.M. ’88 and John Patitucci, who perform together with Brian Blade in the trio Children of the Light, and distinctive jazz drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. impart advice to students in this meeting of musical minds..

Danilo Pérez is an incomparable pianist, composer, social activist, and educator who is the artistic director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. Widely considered one of the most inspired—and inspiring—musicians today, Pérez has received hearty acclaim from DownBeat, Billboard, NPR, and many of the legendary musicians with whom he has collaborated, including fellow pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, who has called Pérez “amazing” and noted that “he is not afraid of anything.” Pérez has toured or recorded with artists such as Wayne Shorter ’99H, Paquito D’Rivera ’03H, Terence Blanchard, Jack DeJohnette ’90H, and Gary Burton ’62 ’89H. His work has been commissioned widely, including by the Frank Gehry–designed Museum of Biodiversity in Panama. Pérez serves as a United Nations artist for peace and is the founder and artistic director of the world-renowned Panama Jazz Festival. His most recent album, Children of the Light, features Pérez in a trio setting with Patitucci on bass and Blade on drums.

John Patitucci is a Grammy-winning virtuosic bassist and Berklee Global Jazz Institute visiting scholar who has worked extensively with Chick Corea ’97H, Wayne Shorter ’99H, Herbie Hancock ’86H, Stan Getz, and Pat Metheny ’96H. An 11-time Grammy nominee, Patitucci earlier this year released a vinyl-only, subscription-based album on Newvelle Records, Irmãos de Fé, featuring his takes on works by revered Brazilian composers such as Antônio Carlos Jobim and Milton Nascimento. All About Jazz praises the album for its “perfect blend” of respect for the composers’ original intentions and “the adventurous spirit” that makes room for “a unique stamp on these works.”

Ralph Peterson Jr. has been one of the most distinctive and recognizable drummers in jazz for more than 30 years. His incomparable talent behind the drum kit has led to collaborations with Terence Blanchard, Branford Marsalis, David Murray, Roy Hargrove, and Michael Brecker, among many others—not to mention being hand-picked by Art Blakey as the second drummer in the legendary bandleader’s Jazz Messenger Big Band until Blakey’s death in 1990. 

Watch Pérez and Patitucci discuss making an album as Children of the Light:

The Berklee Global Jazz Institute is a performance program designed to foster creativity and musicianship through various musical disciplines, with pianist and composer Danilo Pérez as its artistic director. The BGJI provides a comprehensive contemporary music environment where students are given opportunities to explore their creativity to the highest level possible, advance the power of music as a tool for the betterment of society, and connect musical creative thinking with the natural environment.