Pedrito Martinez is a Cuban percussionist, drummer, singer, dancer, bandleader, songwriter, composer, and educator. He was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. He is a Cuban Conguero performing classic Cuban Rumbas, Afro-Cuban folkloric and religious music. He is a Santería priest. He came to the United States of America from Havana in 1998. He plays the Batá drum, conga, cajón, timbale, and bongo drums, among other percussion instruments. Pedrito learned his craft from the streets of Havana, Cuba. He has performed with Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo O'Farrill, Brian Lynch, and Bruce Springsteen.[1] He settled in the New York City - New Jersey area in 1998.[2][3][4][5][6]
He is a founding member of the band Yerba Buena. They recorded two albums. In 2003, President Alien, and in 2005 their album Island Life was No. 62 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums Chart.
Martinez became leader of the Pedrito Martinez Group in 2005. Their first album The Pedrito Martinez Group was released in 2013, with guest artists Wynton Marsalis, John Scofield, and Steve Gadd.
Pedro Pablo "Pedrito" Martinez was born in Havana, Cuba, September 12, 1973 in the Cayo Hueso neighborhood of Old Havana. Cayo Hueso is a neighborhood known for African-derived rumba rhythms. He grew up near the Palacio de la Rumba theater and watched renowned artists rehearse and perform as a child. The house he grew up in was across the street from a park where he became fascinated by men playing percussion, singing and dancing Cuban rumba, a foundational folkloric music and dance with deep roots in Africa. He began his musical career at the age of eleven performing with Cuban artist Tata Guines, and Los Muñequitos de Matanzas as a teenager.[9]
Pedrito steeped himself in this style, eventually achieving the status of "rumbero". He was then introduced to Lukumí culture (the culture of Yoruba people in the diaspora) another Afro-Cuban folkloric tradition of great significance. The music of the Lukumí has its own powerful style of music involving ceremonial drums called batá. Martinez mastered the extremely complex rhythms played on the batá as well as the litany of Orisha songs associated with the religion. In 1996, Canadian bandleader Jane Bunnett, while visiting Cuba, had occasion to see Pedrito play and returned two years later to bring him to play in Montreal with her band Spirit of Havana.
Pedrito Martinez was a founding member of the highly successful Afro-Cuban/Afro-Beat band Yerba Buena, which was formed in 2004, and with which he recorded two albums and toured the world. His career as a bandleader, of the Pedrito Martinez Group, began in 2005 in NYC with a four-night a week residency at Guantanamera, a restaurant in midtown Manhattan, where, once word spread, began attracting musicians like Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Steve Winwood, Taj Mahal, and Roger Waters.
The Pedrito Martinez Group, the first album recorded by Pedrito as a leader, was released October 2013 on Motema Music. The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album and was chosen among NPR's Favorite Albums of 2013 and the Boston Globe Critics "Top Ten Albums of 2013". Wynton Marsalis, John Scofield, and Steve Gadd appeared as special guests.
Around the same time, an album of flamenco music, Rumba de la Isla was recorded with a different set of musicians, distributed by Sony Masterworks.
Habana Dreams, the second album by the Pedrito Martinez Group, was recorded largely in Cuba and was released June 10, 2016 on Motema Music. Guests include Ruben Blades, Issac Delgado, Wynton Marsalis, and Angelique Kidjo.
In February 2019, Pedrito Martinez and Cuban pianist, Alfredo Rodriguez released a duo album called Duologue which was selected by NPR for a First Listen: https://www.npr.org/2019/01/24/687794667/first-listen-alfredo-rodr-guez-pedrito-martinez-duologue .
In February 2019, NPR released a performance of the Pedrito Martinez Group that was filmed in January for the Tiny Desk Series. https://www.npr.org/2019/02/14/694731448/the-pedrito-martinez-group-tiny-desk-concert . In February 2021 Martinez announced that he would be releasing a new album entitled 'Acertijos' (Riddles) on March 19 with special guests including Eric Clapton, Jon Faddis, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Isaac Delgado, and more through his label Eshuni Records and Immediate Family Records.
2017 - Spoleto Festival, Charleston, South Carolina
2014-15 - Jazz at Lincoln Center season world premiere of Ochas for a big band with Afro-Cuban percussionist Pedrito Martinez with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
