NDR Bigband / Danilo Pérez

It is becoming ever clearer how crucial Latin music has been for jazz – an influence that was already audible in the United States by the mid-1940s, yet remained far too underappreciated. Danilo Pérez’s big band program LUMEN – named after the unit of luminous flux – shines a spotlight on exactly that. Born in 1965, the Panamanian pianist and composer has long blended not only jazz and Latin, but also traces of West Africa, the Middle East, and classical music. His work embodies the belief in music as a global language – a force that transcends borders and fosters unity. It’s the same spirit Pérez experienced in 1989 with Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra, and later as a longtime member of the great Wayne Shorter’s quartet – a spirit he now channels into his big band compositions.