Great musicians keep a busy schedule, Pedro Bermudez....

Great musicians keep a busy schedule, but when an outstanding young musician arrives on the scene, they inevitably make time for a new project. The nature of surviving as a musician demands a calendar filled with recordings, local gigs, and national tours. The most in-demand musicians have made successful careers through a constant availability, a professional attitude, and the skill to take the engagement to a high musical level.

Young musicians generally need to prove themselves to earn the respect of these musicians through extensive sideman work and reputation building. When a young musicians jumps into an active musical scene and tries to recruit the most in-demand musicians for an original project, they generally meet mixed results. They pose a financial and career risk to busy musicians; time spent in a young musician’s original project takes away from the high profile work that they spent years earning. If a young musician hopes to connect with these musicians for an original project, they need to have a solid musical project that inspires musical interest and potential for work.

Pianist Pedro Bermudez, our current Spotlight Artist, brings a wealth of talent, musical depth, and potential to his current album, No Limits, and as a result, he carries a cast of stellar Latin Jazz musicians. Born in 1976 in the town of Santurce, Puerto Rico, Bermudez was drawn to music at an early age. He began piano and percussion studies at the age of 10 and six years later, he found himself performing professionally.

As high profile salsa bands from New York visited Puerto Rico, such as Willie Rosario and Roberto Roena, Bermudez found himself working with their groups. Inspired to learn more, he soaked himself in classic Latin Jazz and Brazilian Jazz and jumped into studies with San Juan musicians Jochi Rodriguez and Ismael Rodriguez.

He earned a full scholarship to the Berklee College Of Music, where he was able to delve into his love of jazz and study composition with musicians such as Andy LaVerne, Hilton Ruiz, and Mark Levine. After his time in Boston, Bermudez moved back to Puerto Rico where he found work with one of the island’s most important groups, Batacumbele.

His success on the island inspired a move back to the States, but this time Bermudez went straight to New York, where he found ample work on the city’s busy scene. He quickly found work with musicians such as Dave Valentin, Chembo Corniel, Ralph Irrizary, and more. He connected with Brazilian pianist Cidinho Teixeira, taking in the musician’s knowledge and helping him edit the comprehensive book, Brazilian Rhythms On The Keyboard.

With his career moving steadily forward, Bermudez gathered his peers for his debut recording, No Limits. Inspired by Bermudez’s outstanding work on the local scene, several great musicians jumped at the chance to participate; recording features bassists Eddie Gomez, Oscar Stagnaro, and Ruben Rodriguez, drummers Vince Cherico and Duduka da Fonseca, saxophonist Ivan Renta, conguero Richie Flores, and many more. With all these great musicians in the studio and Bermudez’s sharply focused ideas, No Limits grew into an amazing debut release with plenty of top-notch music.

Bermudez built a solid reputation based upon outstanding musicianship; his connection with New York’s top Latin Jazz musicians was an inevitable result. His work on No Limits brings these elements together into a stellar mix, so we’re dedicating today’s Weekly Latin Jazz Video Fix to Bermudez.

In the three videos below, Bermudez leads an outstanding group that includes Flores, Rodriguez, Renta, and more. The all-star group plays three songs from No Limits - “La Número 7,” “ALC,” and “El Jarriero.” The combination of Bermudez’s exuberant creativity and his group’s experience delivers some music that you’ve got to check out - enjoy!

Complete on  >>  http://www.chipboaz.com/blog/2010/08/17/weekly-latin-jazz-video-fix-pedro-bermudez/