The Terrific Debut of Juan Perea

Bruce Von Stiers

Juan Perea is a law professor at Loyola University. He's written papers on racial inequality and Latino relations in the U.S. Perea has been a visiting professor and chair holder at numerous prestigious universities and has testified before the U.S. Senate.

Besides being a distinguished law professor, Perea is also a musician, a jazz pianist.

Although he has been a jazz enthusiast and performer throughout the years, Perea had never recorded an album. But this year Perea has released his debut album. With great songs and amazing supporting musicians, the album is titled Lightkeeper.

There are nine songs on Lightkeeper. One song is a cover, and the others are original compositions by Perea. Lightkeeper was released on the ZOHO Records label.

Tom Brechtlein has played with Chick Corea among others. He plays the drums on this album. Steve Thornton is on percussion. He's played with Miles Davis and Marcus Miller. Four bassists play on the album. They are Gary Hasse, Janek Gwizdala, Hadrien Feraud and Jimmy Haslip. Haase is a veteran session musician. Gwizdala played with Randy Brecker. Feraud has played with Chick Corea. Haslip has played on, and helped produce, albums for numerous musicians. He was also a member of the Yellowjackets for a long time. One of my favorite saxophonists, Eric Marienthal, plays the alto sax on this album. Besides solo work, he's played in groups such as Chick Corea Elektric Band. Juan Perea plays the keyboards and piano on the album. And Dean Brown, on one of the last recordings he helped on before his death, played guitar on several songs.

George Whitty co-produced the album with Perea. Notably a keyboardist, Whitty toured with Celene Dion, Chaka Khan and Randy Brecker. Whitty is also a Grammy winner for the Randy Brecker album 34 th N Lex.

The first song on the album is Oye Como Va. I've always loved this Santana song. But I didn't know until now that this is a Tito Puente song that Santana did an amazing cover of. Perea does his own amazing rendition of the song. It is a radio edit rendition. The full version of the song can be found later in the album. There is a lot of cool piano music in this one along with a great sax solo.

Lifestyle is an interesting song in that it has great elements of bass, drums and piano. It also has some synth music during parts of it that are really cool.

Soft and gentle, El Sueno highlights the expert piano playing of Perea. There is also some nice bass, drums and synth work on the song. And there are fast paced guitar and piano solos in the song as well.

Tyner Tune is a really cool tribute to McCoy Tyner. Although primarily a piano piece, there are some great sax and guitar bits in the song. There is also some nice electric bass thrown in.

City Swing is an all-out slick light groove tune. From the first notes of the song, I was bopping my head and tapping my toes.

Remembering You takes things down to a slow and gentle pace. Perea wrote this song as a remembrance to his mother who had cancer.

The title track, Lightkeeper, is also slow and gentle. It emphasizes the great piano playing or Perea.

The final two songs on the album are extended versions of Oy Como Va and Lightkeeper.

Lightkeeper was a nice way to get introduced to Juan Perea and his music. The original compositions were terrific, not only showcasing his talent, but embracing the talents of the other artists playing on the album. And Perea's arrangement of Oy Como Va was exceptional.

Lightkeeper is now available at major music retailers and streaming services.

To hear songs from Lightkeeper, visit http://music.gwhitty.com/jperea/

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© 2025 Bruce E Von Stiers