Roberto Perera

Roberto Perera merges a classic instrument, the folk harp, with contemporary sounds on his new Heads Up release, In the Mood. In Perera's capable hands, the Paraguayan instrument becomes the vehicle for an irresistible array of jazz, pop, Latin, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms combined with arousing syncopation, uniting all of the Americas in a style born of his unique musical vision. The top contemporary jazz lineup on In the Mood includes guitarists Peter White, Marc Antoine, keyboardist/producer/arranger Tim Redfield, guitarist Richard Smith, and trumpeter/flügelhornist Tony Guerrer. Born in 1952 in Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay, Perera was barely 12 years old when his mother enrolled him in a music conservatory where he selected the rare 36-string Paraguayan harp. Perera's complex technique includes precisely bending the strings to create sharps and flats while gliding across the harp in a seemingly effortless fashion, which bespeaks the tremendous amount of skill and discipline required. About the time Perera started playing the harp, the Beatles were in their heyday. The young musician absorbed their music as well as other pop music influences into his musical muse, which included Brazilian music, folk and tango from South America, and the folk music from Paraguay. Unable to find an instructor who could teach him how to perform a pop music repertoire on the harp, the determined Perera experimented until he was able to overcome the instrument's technical hurdles and develop his own form of expression. In 1973, after completing ten years of harp studies in Montevideo, Perera moved to New York City with hopes of pursuing a top-notch music career. At first, his experience was not the American dream he had imagined, as his performances were limited primarily to...