We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Pete Rodriguez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Pete , appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I have recorded seven albums of my original music, so asking about my most meaningful project is like asking to pick a favorite child! But if I have to pick one, I think that I would select my album “El Conde Negro” which I released in 2014. The reason this project is so meaningful to me is that the album was a combination of my original compositions and new arrangements of Salsa classics sung by father, Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez. My father was a legend in Latin music, a singer with the Fania All Stars, and considered Salsa royalty. Growing up as the son of El Conde was an absolute privilege, and the education I got from watching his mastery as a musician was better than any I could have received at the best conservatory. But growing up as his son also brought about fears of comparison and insecurities about not being able to live up to his accomplishments. One thing Papi always instilled in me was, if I chose the path of musicianship, I had to find my own voice, not try to sound like anyone else, and become my own authentic self as an artist. Taking to heart his teachings, I forged my own path as a jazz musician, where I felt I could most authentically express myself. It was within this context that I was extremely reluctant to do anything with his music. This became even more so after his untimely death in 2000, when I could not even hear one of his songs without breaking down into tears. But after my daughter was born in 2008, something shifted in me, and I found myself emotionally ready to take on my father’s music and adapt it to my own voice. The culmination was my album, El Conde Negro, which featured five new arrangements and reharmonizations of tunes made famous by my father, in addition to five original compositions.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a musician, I identify primarily as a contemporary jazz composer and trumpeter, as well as a vocalist and percussionist. Music has been core to my existence from my earliest memories growing up as the son of salsero Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez and godson of Fania Records bandleader Johnny Pacheco. I grew up with a front row seat to watch the giants of Latin music, such as Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, during the height of Nuyorican Salsa’s popularity. By age 19, I was the musical director of my father’s band. Under the tutelage of Oscar Hernandez – a longtime musical director both for my father and Ruben Blades – I learned to fill multiple roles in my father’s band, playing both trumpet and maracas, and singing coro all while directing the band. As a vocalist, I was Eddie Palmieri’s lead singer and appeared on Tito Puente’s Grammy-award winning Mambo Birdland album. As an instrumentalist, I supplied minor percussion on the Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project’s Grammy-winning release, Simpatico and have had the privilege to share the stage with Latin music icons such as Celia Cruz, Bebo Valdez, Chucho Valdez, Israel Cachao, Patato Valdez, Chico O’Farrill and La India. But despite the undeniable influence of my Puerto Rican heritage on my musical development, my career has taken me down diverse and unexpected paths, such as focusing on classical music throughout my youth, believing that classical trumpet was the career path I would pursue when, starting at age 15, I was privileged to play with the Symphony of Puerto Rico. Although I now consider jazz my musical home, ironically, I did not find my way to jazz until a relatively late age (as compared to my jazz cohorts). I was introduced to the genre while serving in the United States Army and did not pursue formal jazz studies until after I left the army and began attending Rutgers University in my twenties. However, once I discovered jazz, I knew I had found the place where I could express my most authentic musical identity.

As a composer and performer, I have found that the jazz language provides space for me to draw on my many diverse influences to forge a unique voice in jazz and Latin jazz. As would be expected, my compositions and playing draw heavily from my connections to Latin music and my father’s legacy, but they also reflect such influences as living in the Bronx during the birth of hip hop and following a rigorous course of classical music study at the Escuela Libre de Musica in Puerto Rico. My writing also comes from a deeply emotional place, inspired by life experiences and, often, life’s struggles. As critic Ammar Kalia said of my most recent album, Obstacles (2021), “[i]n the time-honoured fashion of turning life’s struggles into art, Obstacles reminds us that sometimes our most fraught experiences can provide the best inspirations.” (Downbeat Magazine). Composing has thus been both a salve for working through heartache and a vehicle for expressing joy. For example, I wrote El Conde Negro several years after my father died, inspired by his struggles and triumphs, such as confronting racism while serving in the Army in the segregated South, ultimately finding success as a musician, but then facing literal heartache as the hardships of life resulted in multiple heart attacks, ultimately claiming his life. Similarly, in the song Triple Positive, I mourned the death of a beloved friend who died young from triple negative breast cancer leaving behind two young children, while also celebrating her warrior strength and joyous spirit in the face of extreme adversity. Many other of my songs, like Not Good Enough, El Camaleón, and My Patience, are more directly connected to my own personal struggles, such as facing moments of adversity, self-doubt and pressure to conform to societal expectations.

As a bandleader, I have released six albums: Mind Trip (2006), El Alquimista (2008), Caminando Con Papi (2013), El Conde Negro (2014), Obstacles (2021), and “I’m Pete Rodriguez, Vol. 1”, all of which have been well-received by critics. In addition, I recorded a collaborative project, The Wink of a Coward (2017) with drummer Rudy Royston and bassist Ricky Rodriguez as The Organized Noise Trio. Critic Ken Micallef described my music as “not only instrumentally ferocious, but texturally rich and at times, profoundly intimate…” with “compositions rich in musical depth, tone and beauty, as well as rhythm and melody.” (Downbeat Magazine). Micallef praised both my vocal ability and trumpet playing, stating, “[a]n 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.” Critic Brian Zimmerman characterized my music as having a “a unique and inimitable identity” and “creating a delightful hybrid in which son and mambo rhythms are fused with odd-meter swing grooves.” (Downbeat Magazine). The New York Times has praised my compositions as “working on a clean, complex and flexible model of modern Latin jazz,” noting “Mr. Rodriguez’s powerful playing, soft-toned but battling.” (Ben Ratliff, New York Times). Finally, Jazziz praised my playing as “showcase[ing] remarkable chops, the notes flying from his horn in rapid, fluid succession,” and described my musicianship as “an instrumental and compositional powerhouse with creativity and soul to spare.” (Mark Holston, Jazziz).

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist has been the moments when people have shared with me what my music has meant to them. I write music from a deeply personal place — my compositions reflect my joys, my sorrows, my struggles and my triumphs. So to learn that my music has resonated with someone on a deeply personal level is the greatest compliment I can receive as an artist. Music has a unique way of transcending the boundaries that often divide us by tapping into something universal within us, a shared emotional landscape where we can find common ground. Knowing that my music can be a pathway for that type of human connection is the greatest reward I can achieve as a creative.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

As a jazz musician, it was never surprising to me to face a lot of bumps in the road of my career journey. What came as more of a surprise to me is how challenging, and even toxic, the academic world can be. During one particular teaching experience — when I thought I had found a dream job teaching jazz and Salsa to college students who were eager to learn what I could teach them — I eventually learned that someone I considered a friend and mentor had been secretly undermining me, badmouthing and conspiring to get me pushed out of my job. Feeling completely betrayed and defeated, I fell into a deep depression. My resilience came into play in that I was able to harness the emotions brought up by this difficult experience and channel them into a suite of new compositions. The writing process served as a catharsis that allowed me to move past the experience and continue on with my career as an educator and performer.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.peterodriguezmusic.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prodriguezmusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@peterodriguezmusic
• Other: Instagram: @prodriguezmusic

Image Credits

photo 1 – ABM photography
photo 4 (El Conde Negro Album Cover) – Becca Meek
photo 5 – ABM photography
photo 6 – ABM photography
photo 7 (Caminando con Papi album cover) – Hannah Neal