Afro-Cuban conga drummer to shake the stage
GRAMMY-nominated Pedrito Martinez Group features up-beat Afro-Cuban Music
The timing is terrific! Cuba and the United States are “speaking” again. Doesn’t matter whether you think that’s good or bad, because The Pedrito Martinez Group has been in New York City since 2005 anyhow, selling out every performance and attracting musicians from all over the world, including, Eric Clapton, Derek Trucks, Ruben Blades, John Scofield, Steve Gadd, Steve Winwood and Taj Mahal, to name just a few. The group was nominated for best album in the Latin Jazz category of the 2015 GRAMMY awards, and Pedrito himself was just named the #1 percussionist of 2014 by Jazz Times Magazine!
Martinez and his band perform in Moorhead on Thursday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. on the Hansen Theatre stage in MSUM’s Roland Dille Center for the Arts. Martinez sings and plays conga drums. Another drummer and two others on piano and bass complete the group, for lively rhythms and melodies that include elements of jazz, African music and flamenco. The music is upbeat. Dancing is unavoidable, for the musicians and for the audience, at least in places where people are comfortable letting go a little.
If you’re not familiar with Martinez and his group, here’s a little background: Martinez was a founding member of the highly successful, Afro-Cuban/Afro-Beat band, Yerba Buena, with which he recorded two albums and toured the world. His current group has appeared at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Apollo Theater, Newport Jazz Festival, globalFest, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, TED Conference, Montreal Jazz Festival, The Red Sea Festival, Montreux Jazz Fest, Sydney Festival, Bonnaroo, SF Jazz, Yoshi’s/San Francisco, London Jazz Festival, Umbria Summer and Winter Jazz Festivals, North Sea Festival, Saratoga Jazz Festival, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival/San Francisco, Festival Internationale, Carnaval on the Mile, The Playboy Jazz Festival, The Barbican/London with Wynton Marsalis, The Jazz Standard NYC, Calle Ocho Festival, Le Duc Lombard/Paris.
Martinez won first-place for Afro-Latin Hand Percussion in the Thelonius Monk Competition in 2000; The Sphinx Medal of Excellence in 2014; The Jazz Journalists Association “Percussionist of the Year” in 2014; and the Modern Drummer Readers Poll #1 “Percussionist of the Year” in 2014. Downbeat Magazine called the band one of the “80 Coolest Things in Jazz Today.”
The group’s first studio album, “The Pedrito Martinez Group”, was released in October of 2013, and features Wynton Marsalis, John Scofield, Steve Gadd, Marc Quinones and Gary Schreiner. The album was chosen among NPR’s Favorite Albums of 2013, NPR’s First Listen, iTunes Top Ten Jazz Albums for 2013, and The Boston Globe Critics Top Ten Albums of 2013.
For tickets, buy online at www.mnstate.edu/tickets, or call the MSUM Box Office Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at (218) 477-2271, or buy at the door the night of the performance.