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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

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6
Album Review

Melbreeze: I Love Paris

Read "I Love Paris" reviewed by Jim Worsley


"I Love Paris" declares Melbreeze in song. It “fucking sizzles" she exclaims, adding just a tad of creative expression to the lyrics of Cole Porter. The delightful ambiance of France was the perfect vacation spot (if only in one's mind) to celebrate the unveiling of her tenth—yes, its been that many-- record. Melbreeze has long put the instrumental aspect upfront or on top. Her voice is often heard as another cog in her crafty musical structure. Ah, ...

9
Album Review

Pedro Martins: VOX

Read "VOX" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


Big things were always going to be expected from Brazilian guitar prodigy Pedro Martins after he won the Montreux Guitar Competition in 2015. Under the guidance of Kurt Rosenwinkel, Martins has grown not only as a guitarist but also as a multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer who has left his very own mark on Rosenwinkel's late Caipi project, live as well as in studio. With Vox he now releases his sophomore album, which is ambitious in its stylistic scope as well ...

11
Album Review

Daniel Santiago & Pedro Martins: Simbiose

Read "Simbiose" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Symbiosis, referring to a mutually advantageous connection between two parties, is most certainly the proper word to sum up this duo date. Back in the summer of 2015, Brazilian guitarists Daniel Santiago and Pedro Martins took to the quiet confines of a studio in São Paulo and spun out these nine organic beauties. To hear their patient developments, gorgeously entwined lines, fluid rhythmic strumming, and wordless vocals merge from different angles is to hear life unfolding through the art of ...

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“Pedro Martins presents an exciting trip which elegantly fuses Pop sensibilities with South American elements, all the while undergoing an undoubtedly jazzy treatment.” – All About Jazz

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

I Love Paris

Blue Canoe Records
2021

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Adjustments

Blue Canoe Records
2021

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VOX

Heartcore Records
2019

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Simbiose

Adventure Music
2018

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Tiny Circles

From: Adjustments
By Pedro Martins

Videos

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