Electric bassist, singer, cedar flutist, composer, and ethnomusicologist.

John-Carlos Perea’s (Mescalero Apache, Irish, Chicano, German) research interests include jazz and improvised music performance and composition, urban American Indian lived experiences and cultural productions, music technologies, recording and archiving practices, social constructions of "noise," Native and African American jazz cultures, and the Creek and Kaw saxophonist Jim Pepper.

In addition to his scholarly activities, Perea maintains an active career as a GRAMMY® Award winning multi-instrumentalist and recording artist. He has recorded on eighteen albums as a sideman and three as a leader, First Dance (2001), Creation Story (2014), and Cedar Flute Songs (2023). His most recent release is Perea / Sioui / Teuton Trio, recorded live at Jack Straw Cultural Center in Seattle with Joseph Sioui (drums, vocals) and Markus Teuton (guitar).

John-Carlos Perea is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology in the School of Music at the University of Washington. He has previously served as Associate Professor of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University (2010-2023), as Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Music at UC Berkeley (2021-22), and as Visiting Researcher, Composer, and Performer (2022-23) at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT). In April 2019, Perea was recognized by the San Francisco Arts Commission’s American Indian Initiative for his musical contribution “to reclaim space, to challenge false narratives, and to reimagine public art from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples.”