His career as a percussionist and singer started in Havana, when he was eleven. When he was 25, he went on tour in Canada, after which Pedrito Martinez settled in New York at the end of the nineties. He has been leading one of the tightest Afro-Cuban bands there is since that time. With band members from Peru, Venezuela and Cuba it is a varied Latin American ensemble, with the rumba at its core. With regards to the vocals, the roots lie in West Africa and the Santería religion in Cuba. Pedrito has played with Sting, Paul Simon, Wynton Marsalis and many others. He can be heard on over a hundred albums and was one of the founders of the Afro beat ensemble Yerba Buena that toured with Willie Nelson and Ray Charles. His live reputation is equally great: The New York Times called him "an incomparable performer."
