Pedro Martins

Brazilian guitarist, vocalist and composer Pedro Martins is the newest addition to LA's thriving creative music scene. Martins has collaborated with everyone from Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jacob Collier, Thundercat, Brad Mehldau, Chris Potter and JD Beck, to legendary guitar hero Eric Clapton.

Pedro hit the headlines in 2015, when he won the prestigious Montreux Guitar Competition as a young Brazilian prodigy and made a strong impression on the jury formed by Kurt Rosenwinkel and John McLaughlin. After studying guitar and piano as a child, this eclectic Brazilian musician has become a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter perfectly at ease with typical Brazilian genres like samba and choro, as well as with jazz, fusion, progressive rock, and world music.

Pedro has recently lent his playing and songwriting talents to Thundercat’s song It Is What It Is (2020), Eric Clapton’s song Heart of a Child (2022), Brad Mehldau’s Jacob’s Ladder (2022) and Genevieve Atardi’s album Forever Forever (2023). Pedro has also collaborated with Hamilton de Holanda, Michael Pipoquinha, Jacob Collier, and Daniel Santiago, who produced his first album Dreaming High (2012).

As a member of Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Caipi Band, Pedro can be heard playing guitar, keyboards, and singing on the 2017 release “Caipi” (Heartcore Records). The album has received universal praise from critics and audiences alike. In September 2018, Caipi was invited to headline the prestigious Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, and so was the Brazilian duo formed by Daniel Santiago & Pedro Martins, marking the first time Brazilians headlined the landmark festival. The event led to Clapton’s participation in Daniel Santiago’s latest album, Song For Tomorrow and on Pedro’s upcoming album, Rádio Mistério (Heartcore Records). Both acts are confirmed for the 2023 Crossroads Guitar Festival.

Martins’ second solo album, VOX (2019), dreams up a jazz fusion sound infused with deep Brazilian background elements and pop rock sensibilities. VOX is the result of a two-year recording and production collaboration with Rosenwinkel and features an all-star cast of supporting musicians: Brad Mehldau, Chris Potter, Kyle Crane, Frederico Heliodoro, and Antonio Loureiro.

2020 saw the release of two important albums: “Cumplicidade”, Pedro Martins & Michael Pipoquinha’s first album as a duo showcasing their mind-blowing interplay of bass and electric guitar inspired by Brazilian roots music. And “It Is What It Is”, an album by seasoned Angeleno bassist Thundercat that features Pedro Martins on the title-track and that has been awarded the Grammy for Best Progressive R&B album in 2021.

During the pandemic, Pedro participated in a virtual tribute to Wayne Shorter entitled Native Dancer, with an improv rendition of the song Ana Maria. Pedro said, "Wayne is my hero. The first time I heard his music was inside a beetle (car). A friend played “Atlantis” and I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing. That moment represents a break in my life where I understood for the first time how majestic and holy the “sense of mystery” can be. And that it's really my ultimate taste in music. Wayne’s music goes beyond and proves that everything at all is possible when you put all your heart and soul into it. it’s the most beautiful thing... I couldn’t be happier to be part of this tribute." Wayne replied, “Pedro! You have the ammunition to conquer whatever resistance you may encounter! You must keep going forward, no matter what! Thank you for this gift.”  Watch Ana Maria by Pedro Martins

In 2021, Pedro was a guest teacher during the ASPIRE week at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, in Netherlands, where students get access to masterclasses and workshops with some of the best artists in the Dutch and International scenes. In 2022, Pedro was nominated Composer in Residency for the Norrbotten Big Band and invited to be a guest composer and performer for the HR Radio Big Band in Frankfurt.

Awards

2015 Socar Guitar Competition - Montreaux Jazz Festival