Danilo Pérez, Providencia (MackAvenue).
In what may well have been his most substantial and visionary contribution to world understanding and the progress of his nation, the late Mexican president José López Portillo said in a 1977 interview, “Everything is part of everything else.” 1,500 miles to the south in Panama, Danilo Pérez was an 11-year-piano student. He may not then have been paying attention to the international relations pronouncements of foreign politicians, but when it comes to music, the adult Pérez is in agreement with the López Portillo
principle. Providencia presents his philosophy in a program of 11 pieces that in an era of conflict and baffling change is intended to break through categories into a unitarian vision. Listeners may approach the CD with that in mind and be inspired by Pérez”s world view. Or they may disregard the programmatic scheme announced in the liner notes and enjoy a collection that, for the most part, works with or without a message.
However global Pérez’s intention, the heart of his music remains in the Central American conventions that formed his ethos. The CD is a successor to previous Pérez albums, Panamonk and Motherland. It develops elements of his work that go back to the 1993 debut recording named for him. His writing and playing here are at their most moving when they try least hard. Two traditional pieces, “Historia de un Amor” and “Irremediablemente Solo,” with his longtime bassist Ben Street and drummer Adam Cruz, are langorous exercises in trio empathy and melodic development. In several tracks, alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, Pérez and the trio explode with emotion. Elsewhere, ensembles employing woodwinds meander, although a section of one with a vocalese lead by soprano Sara Serpa crystallizes to great effect. The album ends with a short duet between Pérez and Mahanthappa that gleams with elegance and longing.