Luis Perdomo
Perdomo performs with his quartet at the International Jazz Festival of Punta del Este in 2015.
Perdomo performs with his quartet at the International Jazz Festival of Punta del Este in 2015.
Background information
Born(1971-02-19)February 19, 1971
Caracas, Venezuela
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
Instrument(s)Piano
Years active1983–present
LabelsHot Tone, RKM, Criss Cross Jazz
Websiteluisperdomojazz.com

Luis Perdomo (born February 19, 1971, in Caracas, Venezuela) is an American Grammy® Award winning jazz pianist and composer.

Career

His style is influenced by Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, McCoy Tyner, Paul Bley and Herbie Hancock. From the age of 12, was playing on Venezuelan TV and radio stations. His first teacher was the Austrian-born jazz pianist Gerry Weil.

"The biggest lesson I received from Gerry Weil in Venezuela was to keep my mind open to all types of music" he says. He eventually realized that he would have to travel to New York City to fulfill his musical destiny. "Being in a more competitive and challenging environment was a big change that I welcomed".[1][2] He obtained a Bachelor of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music, where he was a student of Harold Danko and classical pianist Martha Pestalozzi, and later on graduated with a master's degree from Queens College in New York City, where he studied with the legendary pianist Sir Roland Hanna. Luis also cites Jaki Byard as one of his teachers.

He has played with Ralph Irizarry and Timbalaye, Ray Barretto, David Sanchez, John Patitucci, Dave Douglas, Yosvany Terry, Brian Lynch, Tom Harrell, Henry Threadgill, David Gilmore, Steve Turre, David Weiss and Robin Eubanks among others. He has been a long-standing member of Miguel Zenon's quartet and was a member of Ravi Coltrane's quartet for 10 years.

In addition, he has appeared on over 120 recordings as a sideman, and has released nine CDs as leader: Focus Point in 2005, Awareness in 2006 (both on Coltrane's label RKM Music), Pathways in 2008 (Criss Cross Jazz), Universal Mind (and third for RKM Music) in 2012, The Infancia Project in 2012 (Criss Cross Jazz), Links in 2013 (Criss Cross Jazz) and Twenty-Two in 2015 (Hot Tone Music), This CD includes Perdomo's newest band: The "Controlling Ear Unit", with bassist Mimi Jones and drummer Rudy Royston, as well as "Montage" (Hot Tone Music) and "Spirits and Warriors" (Criss Cross Jazz) in 2016, which features an amazing band with Alex Sipiagin on trumpet, Mark Shim on saxophone, Ugonna Okegwo on bass and drummer Billy "Jabali" Hart.

Discography as leader

Selected Discography as sideman

With Tom Harrell

With Miguel Zenon

With Ravi Coltrane

With David Sanchez

With Henry Threadgill

With Ray Barretto

With David Gilmore

With Steve Turre

With Jon Irabagon

With Brian Lynch (musician)

With Ben Wolfe

With Ralph Irizarry and Timbalaye

With Gregg August

References

List of Venezuelan Americans