When I boarded the plane in the cold, dreary northeast the song “Here comes the sun” entered my mind more than a couple times. I was headed to Panama for the official unveiling of a top secret new initiative, conceived by Grammy award winning jazz pianist Danilo Perez, to be housed at Berklee and on the low-low until Wednesday, January 13!

Since landing I have felt the sun,dipped my feet in the Pacific,

heard a yet-to-be- announced new Berklee supergroup perform (details later),

 watched an excited Herbie Hancock talk about one of the elements of this upcoming announcement, and seen “El Maestro” Perez and Grammy winning bassist John Patitucci play together on a stage inside Frank Gehry’s first building in Latin America, the BioMuseo, a 21st century natural history museum.

Whewwwwww! And the festival hasn’t even started yet, but standing in this abstract structure with multi-colored lights emitted from the unfinished roof, listening to the sound of sticks striking bamboo in tribe-like harmony, the adventure has already begun and I feel transported.

No tenga miedo a participar ( transl: Don’t be afraid to join me with comments! English, Spanish, or any other ) Come along on this journey through music, culture, and meaning, as I give more hints about the new vision from Berklee and Danilo Perez. Not to mention all the happenings at the festival.

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