Afro-Cuban Pedrito Martinez Group Brings Culture and Flavor to the Clarice Smith Center

This post is by Lisa Driscoll, a Junior Vocal Performance and Broadcast Journalism double major. You can read more of her writing on her blog.

Pedrito Martinez Group photo by Petra Richterova

 

The Kogod Theatre transformed into the likes of a D.C. lounge to host the Pedrito Martinez Group on October 18. It was a night of colorful and percussive music and dancing, an experience that brought several classical music students like myself out of our shells and onto the dance floor.

All four members of the group come from unique musical backgrounds and together produce a lively fusion of Latin sounds. Pedrito Martinez, a world-renowned percussionist, and Ariacne Trujillo, pianist and vocalist, both come from Havana, Cuba; bassist Alvaro Benavides is from Caracas, Venezuela; and percussionist Jhair Sala is from Lima, Peru.

It was truly a unique experience to venture out of a classical music setting into such a lively, relaxed atmosphere where we were warmly welcomed into the Rumba de la Isla.

Though percussion was the drive behind much of the music, Ariacne Trujillo often took the lead in her virtuosic piano and with her sultry voice. It is very apparent that she has a background in classical music (she was a solo concert pianist starting at the age of 11), yet her improvisation and stylistic playing complimented the Afro-Cuban style wonderfully.

Most of the music was from the group’s debut album, Rumba de la Isla, which mainly features the conga, piano, bass, vocals and various other percussion instruments. The opening song, “Que Palo,” featured tight harmonies and improvisational conversations among instruments. The audience even improvised as well, joining dancers in the traditional Afro-Cuban/Brazilian style in front of the band. Although it took me a while, I couldn’t help but join in for the last couple of numbers. Even the musicians stepped away from their instruments to shake to the music.

It was truly a unique experience to venture out of a classical music setting into such a lively, relaxed atmosphere where we were warmly welcomed into the Rumba de la Isla.