Home » Jazz Musicians » Pete Rodriguez
Pete Rodriguez
Rodríguez’s music comes from a deeply personal place, reflecting on his connections to his father and heritage, as well as other unexpected influences. Rodríguez lived through the birth of Hip Hop during his early childhood in Bronx, New York. As a sharp contrast, after moving to Puerto Rico, he focused on classical music, performing trumpet with the Symphony of Puerto Rico at the young age of 15. While in the United States Army, he discovered his love for jazz and made it the focus of his professional and educational pursuits after leaving the military. The diversity of these life experiences can be heard both in Rodríguez’s compositions and playing style.
While pursuing his musical career, Rodríguez has also always made time for prioritizing education. He holds his bachelor and master of music degrees in jazz from Rutgers University. He obtained his doctorate of musical arts from the University of Texas at Austin in 2007.
Tags
Angel Roman & Mambo Blue: Festive Interplay
by Pierre Giroux
Latin Jazz as presented by guitarist Angel Roman, is a combination of Afro Latin rhythms from a variety of sources, but when blended with Brazilian, pop, and fusion the music results in a new stew which, while recognizable, has different flavours, fragrances and textures. Delivering this mélange is the band Mambo Blue, whose membership ebbs and flows depending on Roman's residency. This iteration is composed mainly of musicians from Austin, Texas, and they have delivered on their talents with a ...
read morePete Rodriguez: El Conde Negro
by Angelo Leonardi
Le splendide doti di Pete Rodriguez evidenziate due anni fa nel debutto Caminando con Papi le ritroviamo in questo nuovo lavoro, registrato ancora in quintetto, dove ritroviamo il pianista Luis Perdomo e il percussionista Robert Quintero ma si aggiungono Rudy Royston alla batteria e Ricky Rodriguez al contrabbasso, rendendo jazzisticamente avvincente la dimensione ritmica. Il risultato è smagliante non solo per l'evidente virtuosismo del trombettista e l'elevata partnership, ma per la ricercata creatività con cui rilegge la tradizione musicale portoricana. ...
read morePete Rodriguez: El Conde Negro
by Dan Bilawsky
Pete Rodriguez isn't a purist. He knows his salsa, as one would expect of the offspring of famed salsa vocal icon Pete “El Conde" Rodriguez, and he knows his jazz. But this trumpeter-vocalist sees no need to draw strong separation between the two. In creating El Conde Negro, Rodriguez mines Nuyorican musical veins and jazz lodes, ultimately mixing his finds together to create a form of music that's loyal to both camps yet highly original and completely mutable.
read morePete Rodriguez: Caminando con papi
by Angelo Leonardi
Una questione antica e irrisolta della psicologia riguarda il peso che l'ambiente o la dimensione biologia hanno nel determinare ciò che siamo. Nella storia della disciplina si è dato preminenza all'uno o all'altro fattore, con posizioni talvolta radicali con innatisti e comportamentisti in aperto conflitto. Se poi andiamo nel campo artistico il discorso si complica ancor più: i figli dei grandi innovatori sono spesso figure mediocri magari schiacciate dal peso del confronto col padre (Freud insegna) ma talvolta arrivano a ...
read morePete Rodriguez: El Alquimista (The Alchemist)
by Woodrow Wilkins
"Jive State Suite" sure is an attention getter. The introduction to the first track of Pete Rodriguez's El Alquimista (The Alchemist) makes clear this is an album with a difference. Rodriguez, a trumpeter, vocalist and composer, has performed with a virtual who's who of Latin music, as well as other styles. Among his many associates are Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri and Chico O'Farrill. “Jive State Suite" is a set of five songs ...
read morePete Rodriguez: El Alquimista - The Alchemist
by Edward Blanco
Puerto Rican trumpet wonder Pete Rodriguez blends his style of Latin music with a modern jazz sound, forging an impressive musical statement on El Alquimista - The Alchemist, his third album as leader. Serving as a sideman on many other recordings, performing with some of the best Latin jazz artists in the business including Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Chico O'Farrill and Carlos “Patato" Valdez, the trumpeter's developed chops draw comparisons to those of Clifford Brown and Freddie Hubbard.
While Rodriguez ...
read moreNew Pete Rodriguez CD: Mind Trip
Source:
All About Jazz
Mind Trip is the debut CD of trumpeter, percussionist and composer Pete Rodriguez, who has played with such music legends as Eddie Palmieri, Bebo Valdez, Celia Cruz, and Tito Puente, including performing on Tito Puente's Grammy-winning album Mambo Birdland and the soon to be released Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project.
Kenny Barron says of Pete's playing and compositions on Mind Trip: “He possesses a full rich sound on both trumpet and flugelhorn and his technique is incredible. His articulation is precise. ...
read more
His latest release, Caminando con Papi, a tribute to his father, was recognized as: “[n]ot only … one of the best jazz albums of the year, [but] one of the best albums in any style of music released in 2013.” - Lucid Cuture
“Rodríguez taps his Nyorican roots and merges them with Miles Davis sonic questing for a set that shows it's ethnic pride with glee but has so many subtle genre fusions going on that your ears are sure to be spinning just keeping up.” - Midwest Record
Photos
Music
Videos
Similar
Dizzy Gillespie
trumpet
Vince Guaraldi
piano
Cal Tjader
vibraphone
Ramsey Lewis
piano
Tito Puente
drums
Toots Thielemans
harmonica
Benito Gonzalez
piano
Ray Barretto
congas
Eddie Palmieri
piano
Willie Bobo
percussion
Papo Vazquez
trombone
Joe Cuba
composer / conductor
Jacam Manricks
saxophone
Mike Freeman
vibraphone
Pete Rodriguez
Instrument: Trumpet and vocals
Born: August 2, 1969
