Pedrito Martinez

Pedro Pablo “Pedrito” Martinez was born in Havana, Cuba, Sept 12, 1973. Having settled in New York City in the fall of 1998,by 2000, he had been awarded the Thelonius Monk Award for Afro-Latin HandPercussion and had appeared in the documentary Calle 54.

Pedrito is widely regarded as the leading percussionist in Latin music jazz and has recorded or performed with Eric Clapton, Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen,Chucho Valdez, and Sting and has contributed, as a percussionist and vocalist, to over 50 albums.

Pedrito’s career as a leader began in 2005 and has resulted in a Grammy-nominated wshich was released October, 2013 and was chosen among NPR’s Favorite Albums of 2013 and The Boston Globe Critics Top Ten Albums of 2013.Habana Dreams, his second album, as leader, was released in June 2016. Accolades for Habana Dreams include #1 Latin Jazz Album in NPR’s Jazz Critics Top Jazz Albums for 2016 and being named anong Boston Globe World Music Albums for 2016.