Born: August 9, 1976 Primary Instrument: Piano
Pedro Bermudez was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico in 1976. At age of 10 he began to study piano and percussion, and was performing as a professional musician by the age of 16 with many of the great salsa bands from Puerto Rico and New York such as; Willie Rosario, Roberto Roena y su Apollo Sound, Jimmy Bosch, and Orquesta La Mulenze.
Pedro was influenced by the music that his mother used to hear on the radio at home, from Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente, to Sergio Mendes and Joao Gilberto. This led to his interest in jazz and Brazilian music whereupon he began to study with two local jazz musicians from San Juan: Jochi Rodriguez & Ismael Rodriguez. In recognition of his talents, Pedro won a full scholarship from Berklee College of Music in 2000.
Early in the mid 90’s he moved to the United Stated to study jazz concepts with emphasis of Composition & Arrangements with musicians like bebop legends as Jimmy Heath, Andy Laverne, Hilton Ruiz, Mark Levine, Cecil BridgeWater, Jim Mcneely and Gary Dial. He then returned to Puerto Rico and began to perform with one of the most important ensembles on the island “Batacumbele” where he remained for 2 years.
Pedro decided to move to New York City in the mid 2000’s and joined up with musicians from the Latin jazz & Brazilian jazz scene such as: Andy Gonzalez , Giovanni Hidalgo, John Benitez, Richie Flores, Dave Valentin, Santi Debriano, Claudio Roditi, Leonardo Ciogla, Sergio Brandao, Wilson, “Chembo” Corniel, Joe Santiago, Ralph Irrizary, Jerry Gonzalez, Itaiguara Brandao, Mauricio Zottarelli, Ruben Rodriguez, Oscar Stagnaro, Leonardo Ciogla, Ray Vega, Ivan Renta, Pedro Martinez, Felipe Salles among others .
Finally in 2010 after three years of hard work on compositions and recording techniques, he released his first album as leader ”No Limits,” in collaboration with the legendary bassist Eddie Gomez, and the Brazilian drummer Duduka da Fonseca. The record also features the talents of Ivan Renta, Vince Cherico, Richie Flores, Diego Lopez, Carlos Maldonado, Cristian Rivera, Oscar Stagnaro, Ruben Rodriguez, and Piro Rodriguez.
Pedro is the editor of the only book dedicated to the Brazilian Piano “Brazilian Rhythms on the Keyboard” (Advance Music) by Cidinho Teixeira, an influential Brazilian pianist, and Pedro’s mentor on Brazilian music since his arrival in NYC.
Disclaimer: All About Jazz is not responsible for the accuracy of the discographical data at the website(s) provided. If a link is no longer valid, please contact discography@allaboutjazz.com. Thank you.
