Feb 4, 2019
The connections between guitarists Kurt Rosenwinkel and Pedro Martins is the stuff of movie scripts. Growing up in Brazil, Martins studied Rosenwinkel’ s recordings. A chance meeting with his idol shortly thereafter pushed Pedro to continue his jazz studies. In 2015, Martins participated in the Socar Guitar Competition at the 49th Montreux Jazz Festival which was judged by – Kurt Rosenwinkel. Winning the top prize, the two promised to stay in touch. When Rosenwinkel began his Brazilia flavored project Caipi several years later, Pedro submitted an early demo of a song he wrote. That tune ended up on the album, as did Martins, who became a featured member of Rosenwinkel’ s Caipi band and contributed guitar, keyboards and voice on the 2017 album. Rosenwinkel promptly signed Pedro to his Heartcore label, and this month VOX, Martins’ first solo recording is released, produced by and featuring contributions from – Kurt Rosenwinkel.
A winning mix of Brazilia, pop, and jazz, VOX is buoyed by Martins’ versatility, playing guitar, piano/synths, bass, drums, percussion, flute and singing. Jazz cred is boosted by an all-star cast of supporting musicians primarily recruited by Rosenwinkel: Brad Mehldau, Chris Potter, Kyle Crane, Federico Heliodoro, Antonio Loureiro, and Oscar Azevedo. The lush production allows the textures and moods of the tunes to shine, and there is much to enjoy on the disc.
Podcast 660 is my conversation with Pedro Martins, including musical selections from VOX, including "Origem" which features Rosenwinkel and Brad Mehldau; "Faces" which features Chris Potter; and "B Side".