Luis Perdomo: Walking Towards the Light

R.J. DeLuke

Interviewer since 1999

R.J. DeLuke is an indefatigable jazz fan and arbiter elegantiarum who aspires to ultimate hipness; also an upstate NY freelance writer for various media.

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Published: May 14, 2012

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Pianist Luis Perdomo's fingers dart across the keys, eloquently telling the stories that traverse his mind in that instant; doing so in a manner that enraptures an audience. He moves people, and does so in a manner that appears, on the surface, easy. Like great athletes. Like other great musicians. This is one of the finer pianists out there, playing music from his heart and with plentiful chops and great vision.

Perdomo's name—he hails from Venezuela—at times has placed him, in the eyes of some, in the Latino bag. Not that there's anything wrong with that. That music is in him, but only part of the influences that have formed with remarkable musician. He's made a living playing with Latin musicians in his homeland, and spent about a decade in the midst of the volcanic improvisations of saxophonist Ravi Coltrane Ravi Coltrane
b.1965
sax, tenor 's band. He was brought to jazz by icons like Bud Powell Bud Powell
1924 - 1966
piano and Oscar Peterson Oscar Peterson
1925 - 2007
piano , but the first CD he ever bought, in his high school years, was John Coltrane John Coltrane
1926 - 1967
saxophone 's raucous Om (Impulse, 1968), and in that period spent a lot of time with Albert Ayler Albert Ayler
1936 - 1970
sax, tenor 's Spiritual Unity (ESP, 1964). Not your usual stuff for musicians in their early stages. This cat comes completely assembled.

He's played with John Patitucci John Patitucci
b.1959
bass , Ray Barretto Ray Barretto
1929 - 2006
congas , Alice Coltrane Alice Coltrane
1937 - 2007
piano , Brian Lynch Brian Lynch
b.1956
trumpet , David Sanchez David Sanchez

sax, tenor , Dafnis Prieto Dafnis Prieto

drums , Yosvany Terry Yosvany Terry

saxophone and many more. But his time may yet be coming. With the Ravi Coltrane quartet that included himself, bassist Drew Gress Drew Gress
b.1959
bass and drummer E.J. Strickland E.J. Strickland

drums at an end—or at least on hiatus—Perdomo is eyeing more work as a leader. It's time.

"I'm going to try to concentrate on my music," he explains. "Since I'm not playing with Ravi, I find myself with all this free time on my hands. I'm 40. I have already played with tons of bands. What's the next step for me? I'm thinking this and looking at a stack of music right near the piano that I have written that never gets played ... OK. Time to concentrate on my music. It feels very natural for me. I don't feel like someone's forcing me to do all these gigs with a band, nobody's forcing me to write all this music. Right now, it feels very natural."

He doesn't need a kickoff point for being a leader. He's earned it. But his new recording, 2012's Universal Mind on Coltrane's RKM label, is an exclamation point for his talents. It's a trio outing with longtime accomplice Gress and the brilliant Jack DeJohnette Jack DeJohnette
b.1942
drums on drums. And it's a gem. Wonderfully cohesive and expansive. The trio engages in jazz conversations that are sophisticated and accessible.

The recording is a personal thrill for Perdomo, because it turns out that DeJohnette has been a strong influence going back many years. There's been a connection even before the two met at Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival in 2007. It shows. DeJohnette is fantastic and the pair is propelled to impressive heights throughout the disk, with Gress equal to the task all the way.

"The first time I heard Jack play, I was still living in Venezuela and I bought a CD by Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett
b.1945
piano ," says Perdomo. Actually, an LP. Standards, Vol. 2 (ECM, 1985). I was very impressed by the way Jack played. It sounded very dense to me. That was the first time I heard somebody playing like that. It was also so musical. Everything that he did, musically, had to do with what the piano was playing, what the bass was playing. From there I started buying anything he was on. Every CD I bought that he was on was real killing. From that time on, I became a fan of his. When I moved to New York, I knew that he was here. But at the same time it was kind of like a dream. He's a guy that's played with most piano players that have influenced me. The idea I had was to get to see him a lot here. That was one of the things when I first moved to New York. To this day I always listen to recordings he's on just for inspiration."

Meanwhile, two people—randomly—mentioned that hooking up with DeJohnette should be in Perdomo's future.

"One time I went to see Richie Beirach Richie Beirach
b.1947
piano at Birdland. I had given Richie one of my CDs. We were talking backstage and he was telling me, 'You would really sound good with Jack DeJohnette.' Jack and Dave Holland Dave Holland
b.1946
bass . He was the first one to mention that to me. Ravi also said I should play with Jack. But it wasn't until many years later I was able to say, 'Why not? Why shouldn't I play with Jack?' I was playing with Ravi. We were in France. After the gig, we were sitting at the hotel. We were outside and the weather was real nice and we were just talking. I said to Ravi, 'How about if we make a CD?' He made it happen."

He notes, "I'm super proud of that CD. Not because it's mine. But the whole thing came out real good." It's drawn high praise from critics and musicians.

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