which way west? Sunday concert series
John-Carlos Perea Quintet

The music of John-Carlos Perea combines jazz and creative improvised music with American Indian powwow and cedar flute music.

With John-Carlos Perea on bass, flute and voice, the quintet features Jimmy Biala (drums), Karl Evangelista (guitar), Lewis Jordan (saxes) and Masaru Koga (saxes nd flute). 

For the first set the group will perform Perea’s “Creation Story” cd in its entirety. Creation Story was recently featured on Native America Calling as the December 2014 Music Maker. 

For the second set the group will perform as the Sound and Social Justice Collective with a program of music amplifying the players’ histories of musical activism in the Bay Area. 

Born on the Jicarilla Apache reservation in New Mexico to a German-Irish mother and a Mescalero Apache father, jazz bassist John-Carlos Perea grew up in San Francisco, taking up his instrument originally in elementary school. During his college years, Perea studied jazz, world music, modern Western classical music composition, and American Indian music and philosophy at San Francisco State University. Shortly thereafter, Perea helped teach American Indian music for the San Francisco title nine education project and elementary schools, and performed around the world (including clinics at the San Francisco-Osaka Citizen Ambassador Exchange Program, the San Francisco Native Contemporary Arts Festival, the CSU SummerArts Festival, and the San Francisco Asian American Jazz Festival). Perea has been named Writer of the Year by the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers for his contributions to the Gathering of Ancestors compilation, leads his own group (the John-Carlos Perea ensemble), co-leads the Sweetwater Singers (a northern-style American Indian powwow drum) in addition to playing with Francis Wong, Dr. Hafez Modirzadeh, and John Worley. Perea teaches American Indian Music at San Francisco State University and in 2001 issued his solo debut, First Dance.