Trumpeter, vocalist and percussionist Pete Rodríguez carries the bloodline of Nuyorican salsa royalty as he takes the tradition of Afro-Cuban jazz to new and adventurous places. The son of renowned salsero Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez and godson of Fania Records bandleader Johnny Pacheco, the younger Rodríguez cut his teeth playing with some of the greatest names in Latin music. By age 19, he was musical director of his father’s band. As a vocalist, he sang on Tito Puente's Grammy-award winning Mambo Birdland. As an instrumentalist, he's appeared with legends including Celia Cruz, Chico O'Farrill, Bebo Valdez and Eddie Palmieri, including performing on the Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project’s Grammy-winning release, Simpatico. Now, as a band-leader, Rodriguez is drawing on these experiences to take his brand of Afro-Cuban jazz in exciting new directions. He has recorded three albums as a band leader – Mind Trip, the Alchemist, Caminando con Papi and El Conde Negro – all of which have received great critical acclaim. His most recent release, El Conde Negro was a Downbeat editor’s and received 4½ stars. His music is described as “not only instrumentally ferocious, but texturally rich and at times, profoundly intimate. … Rodriguez creates compositions rich in musical depth, tone and beauty, as well as rhythm and melody. An equally exceptional singer, Rodriguez conveys passion and longing in every phrase, giving his music an appeal beyond genres. Rodriguez’s trumpet playing is colorful, both hot blooded and pastoral, winsome and charged. … Throughout, riches of texture and atmosphere mark every song on this exceptionally clear and cliché-free album.” (Ken Micallef, Downbeat).

His most recent recording, Obstacles, featuring NY-based musicians Luis Perdomo (piano), Rudy Royston (drums), Ricky Rodriguez (bass) and John Ellis (tenor), is due to be released by Sunnyside Records in August 2021.

Rudy Royston (drums)
Luis Perdomo (piano)
Ricky Rodriguez (bass)
John Ellis (tenor)