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When Danilo was a child, his grandfather took him to the rehearsals of his Big Band era jazz group. His grandfather, Francisco Perez, known in Nicaragua as Pancho Perez, was the director and saxophonist of both his own groups, "The Black Cats" and "La Centroamericana"("the Central American"). These bands played the music of Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Perez Prado, Artie Shaw and other music of the '50s. This early exposure to jazz gave Danilo a strong foundation for his composing skills. The jazz influence is evident in his unique and original vocal style. In his extensive musical career, Danilo has played with extraordinary internationally known musicians such as Ray Baretto, Ruben Blades, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Benny Velarde and his Super Combo, Andy Narell, Ray Obiedo, Dave Valentin, Dizzy Gillespie, and Cal Tjader. He demonstrates some of his best work on bongo and vocals on Ruben Blades' CD, "Ruben Blades and Son del Solar, Live!". "I feel lucky knowing that I have such a strong foundation in jazz, Caribbean music, and at the same time was exposed to the great soneros such as Cheo Feliciano, Ruben Blades, Hector La Voe, and Rafael de Jesus. I have taken these roots and have developed my own style of singing, composing and producing my music. I am a person who believes in the future and in the latest innovations (technological and other), and believe that Salsa and Latin Jazz should continue evolving, but we should not forget our roots." website
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