GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist, composer and educator Danilo Pérez hopes to usher in a new era of enlightenment that will unite all of humanity with his epic new album, Crisálida, which in English translates to “chrysalis.” Incorporating multiple artistic disciplines that include works from Panamanian painter Olga Sinclair, Panamanian photographer Tito Herrera, and spoken word from his Chilean wife and saxophonist Patricia Zárate, Crisálida is a holistic inter-disciplinary package that invites listeners to reimagine a world in which we all create our own crisálida so that our individual light and humanity radiates regardless of gender, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. And, in turn, we nurture that prismatic iridescence to better care for the environment and human race. “I envision Crisálida as a protected space where we all come together, whether we’re addressing immigration issues, climate change, environmental justice, science, interconnecting different art forms,” Pérez explains. “We need to work together to build our new crisálida, which, to me, is the emotional, mental and physical state of protection in our early development.”

REVIEW:

This is one of Pérez's most ambitious and philosophical albums, representing his long-standing passion for such issues as immigration, environmentalism, and social change. Pérez establishes his ambitious, pan-continental atmosphere from the start on the Latin- and Eastern-inflected "Rising from Love." Beginning with a delicate flute and piano intro, the song segues into a bright vocal section featuring the Greek Kalesma Children's Choir of the Ark of the World. From there, it morphs organically into Sidiq and Kostas' shimmering violin and laouto duo that eventually frames Malek's yearning vocal melody. The rest of Crisálida follows in equally organic fashion, straddling the line between modern creative jazz and contemporary classical, all the while making room for Pérez's Global Messengers to add their distinctive musical voices to each track.

--AllMusicGuide (Matt Collar)