{"id":5829,"date":"2016-05-10T21:33:19","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T21:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.artinfo.com\/blunotes\/?p=5829"},"modified":"2016-05-10T21:33:19","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T21:33:19","slug":"pedrito-martinez-turns-symphony-space-into-a-dance-hall-previews-his-new-cd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/larryblumenfeld.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/10\/pedrito-martinez-turns-symphony-space-into-a-dance-hall-previews-his-new-cd\/","title":{"rendered":"Pedrito Martinez Turns Symphony Space Into a Dance Hall & Previews His New CD"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pedrito<\/a>
Pedrito Martinez (right) performing with (left to right) Isaac Delgado, Isaac Delgado Jr. and Jhair Sala at Symphony Space\/ photo Rahav Segev<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nThe\u00a0“Rumba in the Alley” that should have overtaken a stretch of Broadway between 93rd and 94th Street in Manhattan got\u00a0rained out May 1. It was intended as a kickoff for the first installment of Symphony Space’s ambitious new annual undertaking,\u00a0The Source Project<\/a>\u2014weeklong celebrations tracing the influence of Africa on New World cultures.
\nThis year’s focus was Afro-Cuban culture, with mixture of well-curated music, discussion and documentary films. It’s a shame\u00a0that percussionist\u00a0Rom\u00e1n D\u00edaz\u00a0<\/strong>didn’t get to\u00a0use his rather magical powers to restore, if only temporarily,\u00a0a stretch of Broadway that once reflected the power of Afro Latin influence in New York City yet is now mostly\u00a0gentrified into yet another urban anyplace.
\nD\u00edaz can do that sort of thing, as I described here<\/a>.
\nStill,\u00a0one of D\u00edaz’s prime disciples, percussionist and singer Pedrito Martinez<\/strong>, closed the Symphony Space series on Sunday night with a concert that channeled a slice of this history and galvanized a still-vital community, one that knows how to clap a correct clave and turn any theater into a dance hall.
\nMany in Sunday’s audience were likely drawn by the special guest who joined Martinez’s quartet for much of the evening: Isaac Delgado<\/strong>, as commanding a singer and as much an author of the Cuban style known as timba<\/em> as exists.
\nThe show was also a pre-release celebration for\u00a0\u201cHabana Dreams\u201d<\/strong> (due June 10 on Mot\u00e9ma Music), the second album as a leader from Martinez (he’s guested on many others). This one was recorded mostly\u00a0in Martinez’s native Cuba last year: Delgado is one of several notable guest artists on the CD, as are D\u00edaz, <\/strong>Ruben Blades, Wynton Marsalis and Angelique Kidjo, among others.
\nYet the real fascination\u2014aside from Martinez’s\u00a0arresting\u00a0gifts as a percussionist and a singer\u2014is\u00a0the quartet interplay Martinez has honed since 2008 through three-nights-a-week residency at the midtown Manhattan Cuban restaurant Guantanamera and, more recently, at Manhattan’s Subrosa club. Bassist Alvaro Benavides and keboardist Edgar Pantoja-Aleman (who replaced\u00a0Ariacne Trujillo a couple years ago) work in powerful sync with him. Yet it is Martinez’s rapport with Jhair Sala,\u00a0whose mastery of a cowbell’s possibilities cannot be overstated, that is the heart of this band.
\n
\"Habana-Dreams\"<\/a>
Pedrito Martinez Quartet: lvaro Benavides, Pedrito Martinez, Jhair Sala and Edgar Pantoja-Aleman in Havana\/photo by Danielle Moir<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nAt Symphony Space the emphasis was on dance-inducing timba, in the style of Delgado’s NG La Banda. The CD explores the wider range and depth of Martinez’s expression. \u201cWe play Afro-Cuban music, with all the influences you’d find here in New York,\u201d he\u00a0told me for a 2012 Wall Street Journal profile<\/a>. \u201cBut it’s also weird and unique. I am clear about where my music comes from, but that doesn’t make me traditional. I am a cosmopolitan musician who plays whatever I like.\u201d
\nI’ll write more about “Habana Dreams” soon in The Journal. And I’ll be keeping an eye on this band as I have done for the past six years. You should, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0“Rumba in the Alley” that should have overtaken a stretch of Broadway between 93rd and 94th Street in Manhattan got\u00a0rained out May 1. It was intended as a kickoff for the first installment of Symphony Space’s ambitious new annual undertaking,\u00a0The Source Project\u2014weeklong celebrations tracing the influence of Africa on New World cultures. This year’s focus … <\/p>\n

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