PODCAST: Danilo Pérez

Listen to an interview with Danilo Pérez, pianist, composer, bandleader, and founder of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.

March 8, 2016

As a Berklee student, graduate, and faculty member, and now as artistic director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute (BGJI), Danilo Pérez '88 has been one of the most influential and enduring contributors to Berklee's recent history and impact.

The Grammy-winning pianist, composer, and bandleader founded BGJI six years ago, instilling in his students—and everyone else he comes in contact with—the potential of music as an instrument for social change. Founded initially as a program for undergraduate students, BGJI recently launched several other new initiatives, including a graduate program in contemporary performance and a summer program at the Newport Jazz Festival.

In a recent conversation at the Berklee Internet Radio Network (BIRN) studios, Pérez talked about a range of topics, including the influence of mentors such as Dizzy Gillespie, Wayne Shorter, and his father; the ways in which he and his colleagues teach and aim to transform their students; and how his work with the Panama Jazz Festival has helped connect Berklee students with the Panamian community and provided education to a new generation of young musicians from his home country.

Pérez, along with guest artist Danny Rivera, BGJI students, and fellow BGJI faculty members, such as John Patitucci and Terri Lyne Carrington, will perform in the annual Berklee Global Jazz Summit on April 1 at the Berklee Performance Center.

Podcast Notes

Engineer: Sarouna Mushasha, music production and engineering major

Music heard during the show:

Danilo Pérez, "Alfonsina y el Mar" (from Danilo Pérez)
Danilo Pérez, "Children of the Light" (from Children of the Light, by the group, Pérez/Patitucci/Blade)