Danilo Pérez: Panama 500

It's 500 years since the first European crossed the isthmus of Panama and "discovered" the Pacific Ocean. Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez commemorates the anniversary and those now obligatory inverted commas in this sweeping historical epic of a record. Pérez is a thinker and humanitarian as well as a musician of rare sensitivity. His homeland is a place of dynamic cultural collisions – some forced, some invited – and his suite, blending indigenous folk with Latin American rhythms and North American jazz in a jangling technicolour mélange, posits the idea of Panama as a delicate thread connecting it all. Pérez is best known for his playing in Wayne Shorter's much-admired quartet, and the complex, instinctive grammar and open, generous spirit of the great saxophonist's music pervades Pérez's stellar ensemble. daniloperez.com