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Pedro Isea Herrera

About Me

Percussionist / Singer / Cavaquinho player / Teacher

Pedro Isea is a Venezuelan musician born in Caracas on October 28, 1971. Very early in life, he began exploring vocal music, playing the Venezuelan cuatro, and performing percussion for vocal groups both in school and university. He started his formal music studies in 1982 at the Padre Sojo Music School in Caracas, embarking on a ten-year career singing and providing percussion for various choirs. In 1994, he began a five-year intensive study of Afro-Venezuelan and Latin percussion (congas) under the guidance of renowned professors Alexander Livinalli, Jesús Paiva (Vasallos del Sol), William Troconis (La Banda Sigilosa, Grupo Maroa, La Platabanda), and Manuel Moreno (Grupo Herencia) at both the Bigott Foundation’s School of Popular Culture and the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). In 1995, alongside pianist and singer Alicia Dávila, he co-founded Mestizos Ensamble, recording six tracks that were featured on radio and television. That same year, he expanded his horizons by studying jazz history and vocal percussion. Starting in 2002, Isea spent nearly three years studying Afro-Brazilian percussion with Brazilian-Venezuelan percussionist Carlos Rojas at the Brazilian-Venezuelan Cultural Institute. Concurrently, he played congas and percussion with the group Son de la Gaita and directed the vocal octet Contraste. In 2003, he turned his focus toward the research and dissemination of Brazilian music in Venezuela, co-founding the ensemble Pimenteira Brasil alongside Carlos Rojas, Luciano Calello, Julio Medina, Wily Noya, and José Ramón Navarro. The group performed nearly 100 concerts and open rehearsals across Caracas and other cities, releasing two albums: Pimenteira Brasil (2004) and Sambando en Caracas (2008). In 2004, he took on a three-year tenure as the musical director of the traditional Venezuelan music group Grupo Matices, leading the multidisciplinary live music and dance show De lo ancestral a lo actual (From the Ancestral to the Present). During this period, he also picked up the Brazilian cavaquinho and began composing samba. By 2008, Isea moved on from Pimenteira Brasil to form Só Sambistas, a high-caliber samba and choro ensemble, alongside Julio Medina (guitar), Daniely Benitez (flute), and Luciano Calello (cavaquinho). The group performed extensively across Caracas, sharing the stage with stellar guest musicians such as Marcus Santos (Salvador de Bahia, Brazil), Diego Álvarez “El Negro”, and Biella Da Costa. As a versatile session percussionist, Isea has collaborated with the Ensamble Kapicua and Brazilian musician Vinicius Pereira. He also recorded the Brazilian tantan on the track “Moruno pa’ Gerry” with Alicia Dávila for the Venezuela Demo CD series. His extensive recording credits include percussion work for artists such as El Forever, Daniela Bascopé, Iliana Goncalves, the vocal group Atapaima, mandolinist Jorge Torres (En la cuerda floja, 2017), singer-songwriter Luis Martins (the single “Tienes la llave,” produced by Rafa Pino), pianist Edepson González (Gratitud, 2023), singer-songwriter Michelle Barrera (”Dime cómo olvidar,” 2024, produced by BautierMusic), the french producer and trumpet player Alain Henriot, Enrique “Kako” Viloria, Luis Miguel Badaraco and Gladys Salazar. With Só Sambistas, he released a self-titled debut album in 2009, followed by Caracas carioca in 2011, which featured original compositions and showcased Isea as both a percussionist and lead vocalist. Since 2010, Isea has been a mainstay in the local scene, recording and performing with prominent bossa nova musicians and ensembles. He has been frequently invited by legendary guitarist Aquiles Báez, bassist David Peña (Ensamble Gurrufío), mandolinist Jorge Torres, pianist Edepson González, and acclaimed vocalists such as Valentina Becerra, Jakelin Liz, Coral Lombana, Rafael Isturiz, Huguette Contramaestre, Ana Carmela Ramírez, Hana Kobayashi, Corina Peña, and Williams Mora. As a featured guest, Isea performed with the multi-Grammy-winning band Los Amigos Invisibles during their “24 Cañonazos Bailables” and “Acoustic Tours” (2014–2015). In 2015, he took part in the 10th Barquisimeto Jazz Festival, performing alongside master guitarists Henry Martínez and Juan Ángel Esquivel, and singer Mariana Serrano. More recently, in 2023, he joined forces with vocalist Valentina Becerra, trumpeter Alain Henriot, and the legendary master percussionist Carlos “Nené” Quintero for the concert series Homenaje a Gal Costa, held at Juan Sebastian Bar (the “Temple of Jazz in Caracas”) and the San Agustín Theater. In 2026 with his group “Acá Brasil” made a sold out concert named “Roda” in Simón Bolívar Theater (El Sistema) with the Caracas Big Band under direction of the bass player Jhosep Mendoza. Currently, Pedro Isea leads the Cátedra de Percusión Brasilera, offering both in-person and online workshops in Caracas. He continues to actively record and perform across the city's premier venues as a guest artist and with his current group, Acá Brasil, hosting popular Rodas de Samba throughout Caracas since 2023.

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