Karl Perazzo

Karl Perazzo
Karl Perazzo
	Karl Perazzo of Santana, at the Acer Arena, Sydney (5560384524)
Background information
Born	San Francisco Mission District
Genres	Latin Jazz Rock
Instruments	Percussion
Years active	1984-Present
Associated acts	Carlos Santana; Raul Rekow; Sheila E; Dizzy Gillespie; Horacio Hernandez

Karl Perazzo[edit]

Karl Perazzo (born in San Francisco's Mission District) is a Latin American percussionist and member of the band Santana.

Perazzo was born into a musical family and began playing Latin music at age two with a heavy interest on Afro-Cuban percussion instruments. He taught himself to play the bongos, then the congas, and finally the timbales. Growing up, Perazzo had many influences that came on the radio like Tito Puente, Armando Peraza, Buddy Rich and even Desi Arnaz from the show I Love Lucy. At the age of seven, he played in a band that his mother and father created, which later became a gateway for him to perform with Cal Tjader, while Perazzo was still in the sixth grade. It was Perazzo's cousins that introduced him to the new and rising band Santana. This resulted in Perazzo playing with a variety of colors that he heard from this progressive rock group. This caused him to dream of becoming a member of Santana. He received his big break as a member of Sheila E's band when she was the opening act for Prince on the Purple Rain tour. After this event, Perazzo went on to perform with many Latin greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, John Lee Hooker, and The United Nations Orchestra.

Life with Santana[edit]

In 1991, Perazzo attracted the attention of guitarist Carlos Santana, who personally called him asking if he would be interested in going on tour with Santana. Without hesitation, Perazzo signed on to Santana playing the timbales. The 1999 album Supernatural defined the power of the clave, and allowed Perazzo to show the world his unique playing style as seen in his solos and drum fills. This album made Perazzo a household name to Santana's audience. He provides the essential Latin color which enhances the sound of Santana. Perazzo has been the lead timbale player, percussionist, and vocalist for the band for almost three decades, and still continues to help perfect Santana's albums that are currently in production.

Achievements Outside of Santana[edit]

Aside from being a major part of Santana's history, Perazzo has also done projects on the side over the years with Santana's former conga drummer, Raul Rekow. Perazzo's main goal is to share all of his accumulated knowledge on Latin percussion performance to young percussionists all over the nation. Perazzo and Rekow created two instructional videos: Talking Drums and Just Another Day in the Park, with guest drummer Horacio Hernandez. In these videos, Perazzo and Rekow demonstrated how to break down complex rhythms with Cuban percussion instruments within the genres of Afro-Cuban to rock 'n' roll. Perazzo and Rekow also did clinics all around the world from 1998 until Rekow's death in 2015. Perazzo now does clinics mostly on his own with support from the Latin Percussion Company (LP) and Sabian cymbals.

Perazzo is also an esteemed artist with the Latin Percussion Company, and produces his own line of timbales, bongos, and congas.

Discography[edit]

With Carlos Santana

Supernatural (Artista Records, 1999)
Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time (Artista Records, 2010)
Sacred Fire: Live in South America (Polydor Records, 1993)
Shaman (Artista Records, 2002)
Power of Peace (Legacy Recordings, 2017)
Santana IV: Live at the House of Blues Las Vegas (Universal Music Group, 2016)
Corazon (producer; Lester Mendez, 2014)
All That I Am (Artista Records, 2005)
Shape Shifter (Starfaith, 2012)
Milagro (Polydor Records, 1992)
The Best of Santana (Colombia Records, 1998)
Ultimate Santana (Artista Records, 2007)
Platinum Christmas (Jive Records, 2000)
The Essential Santana (Colombia Records, 2002)
The Very Best of Santana (Sony Music Catalog, 1996)
Dance of the Rainbow Serpent (Legacy Records, 1995)
Multi-Dimensional Warrior (Sony BMG Music Entertainment, 2008)
Serie Majestad: Boleros Cantineros (MGP, 2015)
The Best (K-tel, 1991)
The Best of Santana Vol. 2 (Sony Music Entertainment, 2000)
This Is Guitar Gods (DeadLine Music, 2007)
The Best Instrumentals (Sony Music Media, 1998)

With Raul Rekow

Just Another Day in the Park (Mona Records, 2003)

References[edit]

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