Charlie Perez is a Houston native with ethnic roots stretching from Native-America, Germany, Mexico and Panama) In his early teens Charlie showed interest for artistic expression and was accepted into Houston's High School for Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA) where he excelled in photography and painting in the art department. Later Charlie attended the University of Houston, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with emphasis in Ethno-Musicology. Charlie's passion for culture and it's music inspired him and his wife Tamara to spend months at a time traveling abroad to Latin America (Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Mexico); Africa (Morocco, Egypt); Europe ( Spain, Greece); and Turkey. Charlie has always had an inherit connection to the arts but did not discover his ability to express musically until after high school. Through his cultural inheritance and exposure to the world's ethnic music, he has developed a diverse base of knowledge and a unique musical instinct. Charlie's musicality is presented best in his weekly performances where he can be seen playing modern jazz drum set, latin jazz or salsa and samba, bossa, or chorinho on various latin percussion. Charlie has become a dominant feature in the Houston music scene as both a side-man and a band leader. Known best for his versatility and ability to create and push the music into an intense culmination of polyrhythms with a musicalityand dynamic control of a mature technician. Charlie has been fortunate to have studied with world class musicians such as Jorge' Cro-Cro' Orta from Grupo Niche, one of the worlds most popular salsa bands and Roland Guerrero, NYC percussionist who has recorded with artist such as Wynnton Marsalis and Chico O'Farrell. Some of Charlie's recent notable performances include 2009 Rio de Janiero w/ Rene Ferrer, 2008 Latin Grammy's with American Pop star John Legend and Colombian pop star Jaunes. Charlie has also shared the stage with Carlos Garnett, Tim Haggins and Mike Moreno from the jazz idiom. And from the latin genre Andy Gonzales, Tito Puente Jr and Edgardo Morales just to name a few.