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The Danilo Pérez Trio at the Firefly

BY PIOTR MICHALOWSKI

riday the 13th was smoking this September in Ann Arbor, with music in every venue and out on the streets. In this great mass of sound, some of the best notes were being played in the intimate Firefly Club, where Danilo Pérez and his trio played with fire and conviction to a full house. Well known to local aficionados from his recordings, especially PanaMonk, and from prior visits with his own group, and, most recently, from his incredible performance with the Wayne Shorter Quartet, Pérez more than lived up to expectations. I was only able to catch the second set, but I wished I could have been there all night.

Pérez showed once again that his idiosyncratic mixture of jazz, Caribbean traditions, and classical training works very well as art and as entertainment. He merges complex rhythms combined with sophisticated harmonies and swings all the way, combining riffs and cross-rhythms with elegant melodies. All of this is performed with effortless virtuosity, and although he is obviously very serious about his music, he wins you over with his wit and charm. This evening we were treated to originals as well as Monk tunes and Pérez even wandered off from the piano to play melodica and drums. His playing was enriched by his cohorts, Ben Street on bass, and Adam Cruz on both drums and steel pan, who were with him at every rhythmic twist and turn.