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Pedro Bermudez

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.

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Album Review

Pedro Bermudez: No Limits

Read "No Limits" reviewed by James Nadal


The term Latin Jazz has been assimilated into the modern vocabulary to describe a certain genre of music, though they are two distinct words which can stand alone. Such is the case withNo Limits, by pianist Pedro Bermudez. He articulates each track with its own identity with music that does not fall into any one category. Adept at both the Latin and jazz idioms, this record showcases his talents as such. Bermudez came up through the salsa ...

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Recording

Spotlight: No Limits, Pedro Bermudez

Spotlight: No Limits, Pedro Bermudez

Source: The Latin Jazz Corner by Chip Boaz

No Limits Pedro Bermudez Luizama Music

Recording an albums allows a band leader to include a wide array of musicians and pursue several different musical directions. Most band leaders spend their daily life working with a number of different musicians, and the recording serves as a document of these various relationships. They may also have their mind on an artist that can't work with them on a regular basis but would be available for short term engagement. The ...

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

No Limits

Luizama Music
2010

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