The Terraza Big Band is an 18-piece ensemble based in Queens, NY, and performing monthly at Terraza 7 in Jackson Heights. Led by co-directors Michael Thomas (saxophone, composer) and Edward Perez (bass, composer), this group performs a repertoire of original music penned by its leaders and described by the New York Times as “soaring, self-propelling original compositions”. The Terraza Big Band features many of New York's most in-demand jazz musicians and can be heard at venues throughout New York City in addition to its monthly residency at Terraza 7, where the ensemble “injects a liberated, interactive atmosphere into the bar...the audience was fully onboard, but the ideas were entirely new” (New York Times). The band’s debut album, One Day Wonder, was released in May 2019 and received a Grammy nomination that year in the category of "Best Large Jazz Ensemble”. This recording was hailed by Jazz Times as being "the sort of debut that should make big-band fans not only take notice but hunger for more."
Grammy-winning saxophonist, composer, and arranger Michael Thomas has been an active member of the New York City jazz community since arriving in 2011. Holding degrees from the University of Miami, New England Conservatory, and The Juilliard School, Michael has performed throughout the United States and abroad, including tours in Central and South America, Australia, Europe, Japan, and Russia. He has appeared as a sideman with Brad Mehldau, Dafnis Prieto, Nicholas Payton, Miguel Zenón, Etienne Charles, and Jason Palmer, and Michael’s talents can be heard on over 30 recordings. According to the New York Times, Michael writes “energetic, tuneful music for both combos and large ensembles”, and All About Jazz describes his playing as “a particular revelation, as he provides superb, well-crafted solos”.
Michael has been commissioned by school and professional ensembles throughout the United States and abroad, and he is currently a member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop in New York City. Since 2015, Michael has co-lead the Terraza Big Band, and the ensemble’s GRAMMY-nominated first album, One Day Wonder, was released in May 2019 on Outside In Music. Michael’s work has been recognized by DownBeat magazine as well as the “Keep an Eye” competition in Amsterdam, NL, and in 2016 he was a winner of the New York Youth Symphony’s First Music commission series. In addition to his work as a big band composer, Michael also regularly leads his quartet, with a new live album of original music scheduled for release in spring 2020 on Giant Step Arts. Since September 2018, Michael has been on faculty at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music as an Artist Teacher of jazz saxophone in the Jackie McLean Jazz Studies Institute.
Edward Perez resides in the cultural crossroads of Queens, New York, where he leads parallel careers as a composer, arranger, and bassist. His works have been performed by the likes of The Silkroad Ensemble, Yo-Yo Ma, Alan Gilbert, Galician gaita powerhouse Cristina Pato, Latin- jazz legend Ignacio Berroa, Latin-grammy nominated Peruvian singer Jorge Pardo, and oud phenom Kenan Adnawi. His music has been played in venues ranging from the smallest nightclubs in New York to the Kennedy Center, David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, Massey Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, El Gran Teatro Nacional de Lima, Damascus Opera House, and Boston Symphony Hall.
Also a sought-after performer, Edward Perez has been hailed by Jazz Times for his “great dexterity” and characterized by Latin Jazz Corner as “a diverse bassist that walks between traditional and Latin jazz worlds with ease.” Perez has toured through more than 20 countries sharing the stage with jazz luminaries such as Lee Konitz, Greg Osby, Seamus Blake, Lionel Loueke, and also Latin jazz powerhouses Paquito D’Rivera, Ignacio Berroa, and Arturo O’Farrill. His numerous recording credits on bass include the Grammy-nominated Latin jazz album “Second Chance” by Hector Martignon. His performances are by no means limited by genre as he has also collaborated with the foremost artist from a number of styles including Colombian songstress Lucia Pulido, Peruvian Grammy winner Eva Ayllón, Lebanese cultural paragon Marcel Khalife, world renown dancer Lil Buck, and even iconic cellist Yo-Yo Ma.