Pedrito Martínez, songwriter and master of the Afro-Cuban folkloric music and the batá drum, will release Ilusión Óptica on May 30 (GroundUP Music). Bill Murray says it best at the top of the album: “I am here as your safety monitor to make sure that you are all prepared, completely ready to take an unforgettable journey on board the latest album entitled llusión Óptica from the very great Pedrito Martinez Group.”
Listen to the title song, featuring reggatón star Roberto Yomil, Havana d’Primera trumpeter / vocalist bandleader Alexander Abreu, and organist Cory Henry. Pedrito will be touring the US this summer, including an album release show June 5 at Brooklyn Bowl in New York City. Tickets are on sale now.
On May 2, Pedrito will be releasing a video for “Filosofando En Clave,” featuring Bill Murray, Cimafunk and Wampi.
Born and raised in Havana’s barrio of Cayo Hueso, Pedrito called to the gods at an early age with his voice and drum. In the late 90s, Martínez moved to New York City and became the world’s first-call rumbero—he plays, sings and dances with dozens of Cuban rumba groups, and on international stages alongside Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Paquito D’Rivera, Chucho Valdez, Dave Matthews, James Taylor, Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen. “Pedrito is a genius,” says Marsalis. “Working with him has been a revelation to me.”
“This record is about opening your mind and letting your intuition interpret what you feel,” says Martínez.
“My wife Maria, my daughter Ziona, and my family in general are my source of inspiration. But, also the diversity of cultures, sounds and genres of music that I had the opportunity to absorb in New York, in New Orleans, and specially in Cuba where the Afro-Cuban music and other genres are constantly renovating their sounds.”
llusión Óptica features Martínez’s powerful working band: Sebastián Natal (bass), Manuel Márquez (timbales), Ahmed Alom (piano), Mario Castro (tenor sax), Jesús Ricardo(trumpet), and José “Xito” Lovell (trombone), and collaborations with Cimafunk; Wampi, star of the Cuban street style called reparto; actor-percussionist Andy García, A-list instrumentalists Osmany Paredes, Issac Delgado Jr, Armando Gola, Keisel Jiménez, Michael Ciro, Carlos Padrón, Edu Campos; and artists from Perú, Daniela Darcourt, Giovanni Machuca, Kate Candela) and Panamá (Milagros Blades, Samy and Sandra Sandoval.
Like Martínez sings on “Panamá Quererte, “Soy rumbero de calle, la transmisión del tambor (“I’m a street rumbero, [I’m] the drum’s transmission”)”.
Preorder llusion Óptica
Ilusión Óptica Track Listing
Filosofando En Clave (featuring Bill Murray, Cimafunk & Wampi)
Nos Volveremos a Encontrar
No Me Compares
Ilusión Óptica (featuring Alexander Abreu & Yomil)
Pamamá Quererte
Yo Vivo Enamorao
Carga Pesada
Ayuda
El Jicamo Me Hablo
Pedrito Martínez Group Tour Dates
June 5 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl
June 7 Cleverly, MD Prince George’s Publick Playhouse
June 11 Philadelphia, PA CIty Winery
June 13 Oakland, CA Yoshi’s
June 14 Los Angeles, CA The Blue Note Jazz Festival
June 16 Phoenix, AZ Musical Instrument Museum
June 17 Santa Fe, NM Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery
June 24 Minneapolis, MN Dakota
June 25 Evanston, IL SPACE
June 26 Ann Arbor, MI Blue Llama Jazz Club
June 27 Indianapolis, IN The Jazz Kitchen
June 28 Cleveland, OH Tri-C JazzFest
July 19 Greenvale, NY Tilles Center for the Performing Arts
Aug 14 Park City, UT City Park
Sept 12, 13, 14 St. Louis, MO Music at the Intersection
Sept 27 San Antonio, TX Jazz SA’Live at Civic Park
Oct 8 Kyuchyuk-Istanbul, Turkey Akbank Jazz Festival
Oct 18, 19 Washington, DC Blues Alley
Jan 22 Philadelphia, PA Perelman Theater
Jan 24 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
Feb 1 La Jolla, CA The Conrad Prebys PAC
Feb 4 Beaver Creek, CO VIlar PAC
Feb 6 Salt Lake City, UT Kingsbury Hall
Feb 7 Ivins, UT Center for the Arts at Kayenta
Feb 13 Los Angeles, CA UCLA Nimoy Theater
March 27 Fairbanks, AK Hering Auditorium
March 28 Anchorage, AK Alaska Center for the Performing Arts
