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Pedro Isea Herrera

Venezuelan percussionist. Main instrument: brazilian pandeiro

About Me

Pedro Isea is a Venezuelan musician born in Caracas in October 28th 1971 who very early in his life started to make vocal music and play the Venezuelan Cuatro and percussion for vocal groups in his school and university. He began music studies in 1982 in Padre Sojo music school in Caracas and developed a ten years career singing and making percussion for different choirs.

Since year 1994, he studied afro-Venezuelan and Latin percussion (congas) during five years with the professors Alexander Livinalli (multiple participations), Jesús Paiva (Vasallos del Sol), William Troconis (La Banda Sigilosa, Grupo Maroa, La Platabanda...) and Manuel Moreno (Grupo Herencia) in the Popular Culture School of Bigott Foundation and in the UCV (Universidad Central de Venezuela). In 1995 he created “Mestizos Ensamble” with the pianist and singer Alicia Dávila recording 6 tracks which were showed in radio and TV programs. In that year, he studied Jazz history and vocal percussion.

Since year 2002, and for almost three years, he studied afro Brazilian percussion with the Brazilian - Venezuelan percussionist Carlos Rojas in the Brazilian Venezuelan Cultural Institute, in the same time he played percussion and congas with the group “Son de la Gaita” and was the conductor of a vocal octet named “Contraste”

In year 2003, he started an intense work of investigation and diffusion of Brazilian music in Venezuela founding and developing the musical group “Pimenteira Brasil” with Carlos Rojas, Luciano Calello, Julio Medina, Wily Noya and José Ramón Navarro, making almost 100 concerts and open rehearsals in Caracas and other cities and recording two CD, Pimenteira Brasil (2004) and Sambando en Caracas (2008). In 2004 and for three years he was musical director of the traditional Venezuelan music group named “Grupo Matices” which presented a musical show with scenic movements and live music traveling through various traditional music and dance of Venezuela called “De lo ancestral a lo actual” (From the Ancestral to the Currently), also he started to play the Brazilian Cavaquinho and to compose samba.

Since 2008 Pedro Isea came out from Pimenteira Brasil and with Julio Medina (Guitar), Daniely Benitez (Flute) and Luciano Calello (Cavaquinho) decided to create the musical group “Só Sambistas” of samba and choro. With a musical work of major level, this group played concerts in diverse places in Caracas with participation of excellent musicians as Marcus Santos (Salvador de Bahia, Brazil), Diego Álvarez “El Negro” (Venezuela), Biella Da Costa (Venezuela). As a percussionist he has played with Venezuelan group “Ensamble Kapicua” and Brazilian musician Vinicius Pereira (São Paulo, Brazil) and with the Venezuelan pianist Alicia Dávila he recorded the track “Moruno pa’ Gerry” playing the Brazilian Tantan for the CD Series “Venezuela Demo”. He recorded percussion for musical albums for artists like the singers “El Forever”, Daniela Bascopé and Iliana Goncalves, vocal group “Atapaima” and the mandolinist Jorge Torres in his album “En la cuerda floja” (2017)

In year 2009, Só Sambistas recorded its first album called “Só Sambistas” and in 2011 they produced its second album named “Caracas carioca” with its own music, composed by themselves, where Pedro recorded percussion and was the vocal leader.

Since year 2010 until today, Pedro Isea participates in records and performances with singers, bossa nova musicians and other musical groups, invited by the guitarist Aquiles Báez, the bass player David Peña (from the group Ensamble Gurrufío), the mandolinist Jorge Torres, the pianist Edepson González and the singers Valentina Becerra, Jakelin Liz, Coral Lombana, Rafael Isturiz, Huguette Contramaestre, Corina Peña or Williams Mora, among others.

As guest musician, Pedro Isea played with the famous group “Los Amigos Invisibles”, during its concerts “24 cañonazos bailables” and “Acoustic Tours” during years 2014 and 2015 in Venezuela, also in 2015 he participated in 10th Barquisimeto Jazz Festival with master guitarists Henry Martínez and Juan Angel Esquivel and with singer Mariana Serrano.

Pedro Isea is currently conducting face-to-face and online Brazilian pandeiro workshops from Caracas, Venezuela and continues to make recordings as invited musician and playing in diverse locals and scenarios in the city and writing a music investigation and recommendation blog called ¿Qué dice Petrusco?

My Jazz Story

Jazz for me is like a love relationship, something that you can not explain with words, just with music, smiles and tears... Jazz is freedom is a way of life. For me is like brazilian samba, you not just play samba, you live, walk, breathe, think with samba rhythm every day