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In October 2014, the giant Newark, New Jersey-born tenor and soprano saxophonist Wayne Shorter (1933-2023) played one of his final concerts in Stockholm Concert Hall. This has now been released as Celebration: Volume 1. His longstanding superfine quartet-mates, bassist John Patitucci, drummer Brian Blade and the insurgent Panamanian pianist, Danilo Perez, were with him. 

I ask Perez about his own life in music, and the impact upon it by the great Wayne.

“I was born in Monte Oscuro, Panama City in 1965,” says Perez. “My father, Danilo Perez Sr, was a professional singer and educator whose teachings profoundly influenced me. His approach to interconnected music and using music as a tool for social change laid the groundwork for my later work as founder and director of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in Boston. 

“My Panamanian roots have been instrumental in shaping my artistic vision, prompting me to blend diverse cultural elements into my music, particularly the guidance of remarkable mentors early in my life: my first piano teacher Cecilia Nunez from Chile, and Professor Edgardo Quintero.

“My family supported me to study music — as long as I was able to study another career. I chose electronics for a while.”

I ask him about his deep feelings for Panama. 

“My love for my country,” he says, “its rich history, cultural diversity and geographical position profoundly influences my music. In my upcoming record with the Bohusian Big Band there’s a title called Galactic Panama. I envision Panama’s future as a place that embraces the challenges of globalisation with wisdom and innovation. Galactic Panama blends jazz with tamborito, a folk music style known for its drumming and call-and-response vocals, reflecting African influences in Panama. The rhymes and traditions from my early years continue to inspire, blending seamlessly with global styles in my work. They are at the heart of my creative soul.”

In 1985 Perez won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in the US, followed by a Quincy Jones scholarship for Berklee, America’s most prestigious jazz college. But it wasn’t easy for a young Latin American jazz musician who believed fervently in the cultural sovereignty of his own people to build a musical career in the epicentre of imperialism. After playing and recording with many prime jazz musicians, in 1989 he became the youngest member of the great bebop pioneer Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nation Orchestra.

Gillespie became another paramount mentor: “From Dizzy I learned the transformative power of music, how it can bridge and unite cultures, connect peoples and foster understanding across boundaries. We call it global jazz. He showed me that we can create a cultural passport through music to bring people together.”

In December 1989, two days before he was to play his first major concert in Panama, the US invaded his country and he decided to express his cultural defiance at this imperial aggression. “Even with the unrest, we decided to go ahead with the concert, which became an example of how music can heal during troubled times. Afterwards, I made albums like The Journey and Motherland to process the upheaval and celebrate our rich Panamanian identity. I wanted to share our nation's varied sounds and resilience with the world.”

His partnership with Shorter, Blade and Patitucci, which began in 2000, has deeply affected the pianist’s musical life and growth. “Wayne’s mentorship pushed us out of our comfort zones and made us be fully present, leading us to develop concepts like ‘comprovising for spontaneous composition’, and Zero Gravity, which explores new musical frontiers. I also developed a harmonic system founded on an innovative approach that uses tetrachords and the blues to generate new sonorities. All this has been polished on the bandstand with John and Brian, under Wayne’s guidance.

“His brilliance as a composer and player, combined with his profound love of life has magnified our vision of the world. He taught us that when music is intertwined with daily life and used as a transformational tool, it reveals the potential of a far greater society.”

You can hear the timbre of Perez’s words all through the Celebration album. “In Wayne’s later years he was fully devoted to performing with complete musical freedom. The record captures our passion for exploring the unknown and communicating music in its most unrestricted form. For nearly 20 years, before each concert, we gathered in a circle with our heads together and felt aligned, making a sound. This ritual symbolises our deep familial connection and collective commitment for entering the unknown. Wayne’s emphasis on artistic freedom enabled a truly open and creative partnership, reflecting his unwavering quest for musical discovery.”

And what about his other bandmates? 

“John’s artistry is defined by innovative bass technique, blending grooves with rich melodic lines, creating very personal statements. Brian is a painter on the drums: his adaptable drumming style combines complex rhythms with soulful and powerful performances. They are my galactic, telepathic brothers.’

For the past half-century I have listened to Wayne Shorter as Musical Director of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, through his explosive years with Miles Davis, his deeply innovative Blue Note albums of the ’60s, his fusion masterpieces with Weather Report and his succession of albums with his final quartet. But I’ve never heard him play so freely and uninhibitedly as on this Celebration album, which is the fullest soundscape of Perez’s final words to me. 

“Wayne will be remembered as one of the visionaries and geniuses of our time, whose deep desire to express the importance of life and unite people through music has inspired us to view life through a creative lens and embrace the unknown with courage and joy.”

Celebration Vol 1 by the Wayne Shorter Quartet is released by Blue Note Records