Pete Rodriguez Trumpet Interview
Welcome to the show notes for Episode #144 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter Pete Rodriguez. Listen to or download the episode below:
About Pete Rodriguez
Trumpeter, vocalist, and percussionist Pete Rodríguez carries the bloodline of Nuyorican salsa as he takes his unique brand of jazz to exciting new places.
Son of salsa singer Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez and godson of Fania Records bandleader Johnny Pacheco, 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.
As a bandleader, Rodriguez draws on his diverse upbringing—including living through the birth of Hip Hop in the Bronx and becoming an accomplished classical trumpeter during his adolescence in Puerto Rico—to create his own brand of jazz that defies categorization.
The result is music that has been praised 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… giving his music an appeal beyond genres.” (Downbeat).
His music demonstrates his aptitude for hard-driving, modern post-bop jazz, as much as melodic Latin variants and R&B-tinged grooves.
Rodriguez has released a series of acclaimed albums as a leader, including Mind Trip, The Alchemist, Caminando con Papi (Destiny Records), El Conde Negro (Destiny Records), Obstacles (Sunnyside Records), and his most recent, I’m Pete Rodríguez, Vol. 1 (Sunnyside Records), named one of the Best of 2024 by the New York City Jazz Record.
His forthcoming I’m Pete Rodríguez, Vol. 2 continues his exploration of identity, resilience, and innovation.
“As a bandleader he’s working on a clean, complex and flexible model of modern Latin jazz … his compositions change shape and character, according to the free flow of the arrangements, among art song and swing and clave. Draped over all of it is Mr. Rodriguez’s powerful playing, soft-toned but battling.” – The New York Times
Pete Rodriguez episode links
- peterodriguezmusic.com
- Pete on Instagram (@prodriguezmusic)
- on YouTube (@peterodriguezmusic)
- on Facebook (@prodriguezmusic)
Upcoming Events:
- Greg Black Mouthpieces, November 7 & 8
Podcast Credits
- “A Room with a View“ – composed and performed by Howie Shear
- Audio Engineer – Ted Cragg
- Cover Photo Credit – Pete Rodriguez
- Podcast Host – John Snell
Transcript
Please note, this transcript is automatically generated. It may contain spelling and other errors. If you would like to assist us in editing or translating this transcript, please let us know at info@bobreeves.com.
[00:00:00]
JOHN SNELL: Hello and welcome to The Other Side of the Bell, a podcast dedicated to everything trumpet brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass. We’ll help you take your trumpet plane to the next level. I’m John Snell, trumpet specialist here at Bob Reeves Brass, and I’ll be your host for this episode.
Joining me today is trumpeter, vocalist and band leader Dr. Pete Rodriguez. We’ll get to Pete’s interview here in a moment after a word for our sponsor and some trumpet news.
[00:01:00]
JOHN SNELL: Well fall is here. We’re in the midst of it, except in LA where it’s 85 degrees today. As you could, those of you watch [00:02:00] it on YouTube. I’m sitting here sweating in the front room. Got a couple things coming up. Uh, of course this week, depending on how soon you’re listening to this episode, I’ll either be on my way or have arrived in North Carolina.
November 7th and eighth I will be at Greg Black Mouth Pieces, Pretty much booked up, although we always take walk-in traffic. If you’re interested in a mouth, certainly if you’re interested in mouthpieces, and, uh, you know, I never sleep. So if you have an alignment and you’re just learning now that I’m gonna be a great black mouthpieces, just show up.
I’ll get the horn done, Friday, Saturday. November 7th and eighth, I’ll be in Mount Holly, North Carolina at Greg Black Mouthpieces. Absolutely fun. Hang. They have such a great crew there, Ben and Greg, and, all of the crew. Uh, and then we’ll be heading up north to Winston-Salem for the North Carolina Music Educators Association Conference November 9th and 10th at the Convention Center in Winston-Salem.
So, hope to see you there. Uh, of course, [00:03:00] if you’re listening to this. Podcast later in the month. I’m sorry I missed you. Uh, Japan. I have the dates confirmed as promised. Last episode, I will be in Tokyo, Japan from November 20th to the 23rd, four days. These book up. Really, really, really fast. especially since, uh, I think it was August of last year was the last time we were in Japan.
So it’s been over a year, 15 months. So we will be at Joy Brass, in ota, which is a suburb of Tokyo, right over by Haida Airport.
Super easy to get to on, uh, either the kq Commod station or the comma station. And, uh, I’ll be there from the 20th to the 23rd doing alignments and consultations if you are interested in either. One of those contact Joy Brass will have the information in the description. They are handling all of our appointments, so I suggest calling or emailing them right away.
Like I said, we usually sell out, have to turn [00:04:00] people away, which of course we hate doing it, but there’s just so many hours in and day. So, looking forward to going back and visiting our great friends at Joy Brass and hope to see you there. I know a lot of you have been asking when are you going back to New York?
When are you going back to Dylan Music? And I just got off the phone with Jim at Dylan Music and it looks like end of February, 26th, 27th, 28th. I’m not supposed to say those dates yet ’cause they’re not a hundred percent confirmed. but I’m gonna put it out there and better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.
Right. so for those of you in, uh, the New York, New Jersey area, even Philadelphia is only a in, um. Washington DC is only an few hours away. we will be at Dylan Music very likely, 98.5% sure the end of February. So, of course, as we get closer, we will give you more details about how to reserve your spot, for alignments and mouthpieces and all of the fun that we have at Dylan.
Music. That’s it for today. We have a [00:05:00] wonderful guest, Dr. Pete Rodriguez. and, uh, just a a quick note about this one. You know, the, the original. impetus of this podcast, as I’ve said is Bob Reeves wanted to let. The brass playing public know how players got from A to B, you know, what was their journey like?
some folks’ journey was easier than others. more of a straight line. Others were more of a roller coaster. in this particular case, uh, this is a fabulous interview. I mean, I fell in love with. Pete, we never met each other. We, got connected through a mutual friend. but Pete’s journey was definitely more of a rollercoaster and some of his experiences, some of his, trials and tribulations, in the face of adversity, means is, this is gonna be a, a little bit different interview in some.
parts, meaning some of the language, some of the topics that we’re talking about, is, uh, maybe difficult to hear. So with that being said, if certain language, um, and topics are not something you want to hear, then you might wanna skip this episode or fast forward through some of the parts.
but just [00:06:00] as an ed editorial decision, we want to put. Pete’s story up there. One, because we think it needs to be heard, to hear what some of these players, first of all, what made him the artist he is today. it paints a full picture, you know, of some of the things he went through. So, with that being said, I really do hope you’ll stick through the interview because Pete has some amazing experiences from his upbringing, uh, with the legends of Salsa and Latin Jazz, to creating his own groups and being a band leader.
for some of them, like Eddie Palmieri, for example. So, without further ado, here’s my interview with Dr. Pete Rodriguez.
Well, I’m so honored to have joining me today, trumpeter, vocalist, band leader, and percussionist, Dr. Pete Rodriguez. Pete carries the bloodline of salsa into a bold new era of jazz, the son of salsa icon, Pete El Conde Rodriguez, and godson of Fania, legend Johnny Pacheco. Pete began his career leading [00:07:00] his father’s band at just 19 And went on to perform with Elia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, and many, many others. Pete sang on Tito Puente’s Grammy winning Mambo Birdland album, drawing on his Bronx roots classical training in Puerto Rico and deep Latin heritage. Pete’s music blends post Bop fire, Latin Soul, and r and b grooves Heard across acclaimed albums like Kado Con, Poppi Elcon de Negro, and I’m Pete Rodriguez, volume one, and now here’s my interview with Dr. Pete Rodriguez.
JOHN SNELL: Well, I’m so honored to have joining me today on the other side of the bell, doctor Pete Rodriguez. Pete, how you doing today?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Doing great. It always, it always feels weird when people say, doctor, I, I forget. I have a doctor degree. So when I hear it, I’m like, oh, yeah, I actually have that degree.
JOHN SNELL: Well, you know, knowing, knowing what people go through to [00:08:00] get those, uh, you know, those abbreviations, I always like to honor them for the hard work.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: it was very difficult.
JOHN SNELL: yeah.
I wanna, I want to start right from the beginning. how did you find the trumpet, or did the trumpet find you?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Well, I am the son of one of the baddest cats in Sal of Music. His name is Peter Con Rodriguez. And then my godfather was another bad ca cat named Johnny Pacheco and they had a group together. And then my father was the first singer signed to the Fania All Stars, which is like an all Allstar, uh, group of musicians, the best in the, in the business here in the United States, playing salsa music.
Um, so I would go to the final All Star rehearsals since I was a baby or rehearsals were at the house. You know, back then people rehearsed in houses. They didn’t
really rent studios, so I got to see all the rehearsals in the living room. And I guess I always sat next [00:09:00] to the trumpet players in the back. But actually the first instrument I played was like the Maras and the bongo,
but it was the trumpet, I guess, that I liked just sitting next to the trumpet players in my dad’s band. And that’s how I think everything started, you know?
JOHN SNELL: Just, I mean, so you, I mean, you were literally surrounded by that music, probably even in the womb, you know, when your mother was pregnant with you,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because
JOHN SNELL: the rhythms, hearing the sounds, yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. ’cause she was going to the gigs pregnant. So I’m, I’m hearing that. And, you know, and then, you know, I guess the most well-known musician that American people know is a guy named Victor pa.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: So, um, I got to hear him since, uh, I was a, a young kid, so hearing the trumpet played well, you know,
somebody like him.
JOHN SNELL: So, and I’m assuming this is New York, right? We were, uh, growing
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, yeah.
So half New York, so I, I left New York when I was nine, and
[00:10:00] then I went to. We moved to Puerto Rico.
JOHN SNELL: So, but your early earliest memories were. In New York
around all that I mean, that scene, the Latin scene there, take us through it. What was it like? Just the music, the scene, the people.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Well, since I was nine, I didn’t really, I went to some concerts, but
I didn’t get to hang out so much. So the scene that I saw was in the house more so. And if I went to some concerts outdoors, I don’t really remember anything around five years old.
You know, my memory doesn’t go back that far. But, um, I think once we moved to Puerto Rico and then I started taking serious trumpet lessons, I took trumpet lessons at a music school called ELA Libre. Deca, it’s a public school in Puerto Rico and from seventh grade to senior year, and everyone had free private lessons, which is unheard of.
Right. And my trumpet teacher played second trumpet in the symphony of Puerto [00:11:00] Rico. Her name is, may she rest in peace. So when I started taking private lessons, I had an amazing role model because she was good enough to play in any symphony in the United States, but she chose to stay in the island. and she played in my lessons, which a lot of teachers don’t play in lessons, which I totally disagree because having her play, my goal was to mimic her sound technique. Her tongue was the most impressive thing. It was like, you know, that that ping that classic players have, you know,
it’s a different type of ping than what jazz musicians have.
It’s, it’s a different approach. Not one is better than the other, but you know, like when I first heard Mauricio Andre, I was blown away just hearing him come in on the second movement of the, of the Hummel.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: You know, and just comment on that, you know, that whole note and then the trail [00:12:00] and then that trail was beautiful, you know?
Um, so I had her for six years and then she had me sub with the sym in Puerto Rico. I think the first time I subbed that was like 14 or 15.
JOHN SNELL: Really.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. Um, I was actually really good at classical music at a very young age, but I was one of those crazy kids, like by ninth grade I was really putting in five hours a day. So it
was
JOHN SNELL: And you’re well, and you, this is all while your father’s having rehearsals and touring and recording and having an active,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Mm-hmm.
JOHN SNELL: uh,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: His active career.
Yeah.
Which in the eighties. So, but at the time I wasn’t playing salsa music. My trumpet teacher didn’t want me to do that ’cause she thought it could d damage my chops, which now that I’m older, I totally understand what she’s saying because you know, a lot of the, you know, the salsa scene. You know, you’re overblowing a lot.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Um, and I think if you’re young and you’re still developing all this here, [00:13:00] you can end up doing more damage that maybe can’t be fixed later on,
JOHN SNELL: Trying to keep up. Yeah. So, So, would you say her name one more time please? ’cause I wasn’t
PETE RODRIGUEZ: her.
name is, Nilda
JOHN SNELL: Neda. Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Nilda. LeDuc. L-E-D-O-U-X.
JOHN SNELL: Wow. Um, I forget where she went to college and I feel so bad I would have to call some people in Puerto
Do some research.
Well, we’ll, we’ll have to dig in some more. I mean, it
sounds like a fascinating, fascinating player
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
and then the guy that played first trumpet, I used to sub and do a lot of, uh, plays with him. So, and he was, they say he’s probably the best. classical trumpet player that’s probably come, come out of the island, but we can’t also forget we have that other cat that people don’t, don’t think he’s Puerto Rican, is, you know, that cat?
Um, he plays Monet. Manny[00:14:00]
JOHN SNELL: Loriano. Yeah, of course. From
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, he’s, he’s Puerto Rican.
JOHN SNELL: I did not know that.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. I didn’t know that until, I mean, a while back.
And he speaks Spanish. It’s not like he tries to act like he doesn’t, got those Hispanic people that, that they forget where they’re from and they’ll just talk to you in a really messed up English accent, you know?
JOHN SNELL: yeah, yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: But, uh, you know, so Manny’s, you know, one of the best, you know?
JOHN SNELL: Incredible player.
Yeah.
So I, I, I’d, I’d love to hear more about your lessons with Neda. what kind of stuff was she going through? The basics, Arbin Clarks,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, the, the arban, we did a lot of the arban, you know, from the beginning and you know, and also, you know, the stuff like all that basic stuff. we didn’t do any chi withs at the time. Chi Chi Woods came in later. Um, and then we worked on, um, orchestral excerpts. You know, I learned, [00:15:00] Mala five pictures, Patricia Pine, Jerome, and I did all this stuff on, on a beef flat. ’cause I didn’t have a C at the time. I would even play, uh, pictures piccolo on a B flat. It was brutal though, doing that on a B
flat.
JOHN SNELL: imagine. Yeah. Geez.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. And then, uh, we worked on, I think we worked on hiding Homo. carnival of Venice. I, I had really good technique at a very young age, so I could, I could play the Carnival Venice pretty fast, you know, like, uh, you know, I could play it, you know, at the temple that it was normally played by like a grown person.
So, uh, and then through her, she had me audition for Interlochen. So I went for three summers. Um, and that was life changing. I, I tell people Interlochen was music on steroids.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: and there I got [00:16:00] to meet some bad teachers. So I studied with Gil Johnson one summer, and, you know, he’s a beast. so he helped me out a lot.
And the cool thing about, I loved about Interlochen, they were preparing you for the real world. So let’s say if you were sitting on first chair, first week. I think it was Thursday you got challenged by your on trumpet section. You know, so where was playing, playing second trumpet would challenge you for your part. So you had to learn your part, but you also had to learn the second part just in case if you had a off day and he sounded better. So he took your chair and then the person sitting on third chair would audition for the second chair. So if you didn’t look at the second chair, you could end up being first chair and then by the end of the audition you could be on last chair.
JOHN SNELL: Oof. Yeah. So you’re always, always on the spot. Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. Which is preparing you for the real world, you know, which is, at the time I was kind of [00:17:00] annoyed that I had to audition every week, but you’re young and you know, that level of stress they’re getting you used to the, to the classical world when you’re an adult, you know?
So,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: um, and then we did, it was four week, eight weeks, so it was. eight weeks of, you know, every week was new music. So when you are in college, the orchestra, what does two concerts a semester here you’re doing eight concerts in two months. So that’s why I say it’s music on steroids.
JOHN SNELL: Just going through rep. Yeah,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
Which was amazing.
And um, I remember I went there as, I think the first time I went there was like eighth grade and I sat first chair every, all summer. So that was very brutal. ‘ cause you know, the guy sitting second chair, he was one of my best friends and he just kept on trying to beat me. He never did. But that stress was so much.
But I came back home to Puerto Rico,
JOHN SNELL: yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: you know, like a different person.
JOHN SNELL: With that drive and that [00:18:00] experience. Um, I’m curious what your lessons were like with Gil. You mentioned, I
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Gil, Gil was a lot of repertoire wasn’t, he wasn’t like a, a chop fixer.
JOHN SNELL: okay.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: And he’s very similar to va. When I studied with VA
Volcano,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm. they were more like repertoire. So we just played a lot of, uh, attitudes. But the thing with him is like, he want cast like Kim from that era. They want everything perfect. You know, you can’t be cracking.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: You know, you, you know, you have to play it. Like if you’re playing in a symphony, it’s like, okay, if I’m gonna play, you know, I should have my breath marks there and notes like, okay, relax, breathe, you know, more tongue less, you know, like I, I really sat down on the, okay, this is why I’m having trouble. And I learned at a very young age that if that opening thing is ppe, PPE p, you know, starts on RA and I’m fracking that I’m gonna play it [00:19:00] slow pee. So they taught me how to be. Kind of like a machine, you know, P or real slow or p or play it a half step below, a half step above. So then when you play it in the, in the regular P, it feels easier. And then another thing that somebody taught me, an interlochen was to play stuff with my left hand. So like, you know, the
Ian is, so I worked on that with my left hand. And then once you go with the right hand, it’s just, it’s much easier.
JOHN SNELL: Isn’t that funny? I, I had a trumpet teacher, uh,
Bob Carrin, he’s been on the podcast. He, he had me do that. And,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: his name?
JOHN SNELL: uh, Bob Carrin, uh, he was a Vao student back at Julliard,
uh, many, many years ago. He was an LA cat, and, um, yeah, he would have me, play stuff left-handed or Clark’s,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
JOHN SNELL: B or low B Clark, you know, with, just like, you can’t get that third finger working, do it on the left [00:20:00] hand and then switch back on the right, and all of a sudden it feels so much easier tricking the
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
especially like that one,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: you do it here, you get to go. So you know, Gil was, that was only eight weeks and then I never saw him again,
you know? ’cause
JOHN SNELL: so then, uh, the next couple times, who, who was the trumpet teacher next couple times you were out at
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Oh my God. So, you know, the first time I was there and I feel so bad and I should try probably see if Interlochen has paperwork on him. The first guy, he was amazing. He was an Asian guy
and I forget his name, but he was such a beautiful human being.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: an amazing human being. And he helped me out so much.
And I just forget his name. Like.
JOHN SNELL: Uh, hopefully the internet and, yeah. we’ll
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I need to look him up. I remember I had that solo and I was only like 14, uh, outdoor Overture,
you know that one. It’s like, it starts on a [00:21:00] RG and he helped me out so much with that piece ’cause it’s like you’re really exposed in the orchestra, you know? And I, and in Puerto Rico we didn’t have an orchestra in our high school. We had a concert band and I played in Nebraska Quintet. So that’s one of the reasons why I loved going to Interlochen.
’cause I could sit in a huge orchestra and then you get to just meet people from all around the world. You know, there was a
violinist from Iceland. There was a really young Asian girl, I think from China, and she would play, uh, cello. And this little girl was practicing like six, seven hours a day. And it was just like. The case was bigger than her,
JOHN SNELL: And
just chugging away. It’s very so inspiring. I’m fascinated because you, you have such a rich, classical upbringing.
Uh, was there any pull, to do the stuff that your father was doing and your godfather, you know, [00:22:00] the, the stuff you were growing up, the salsa also?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: At that age, no. I was so in love with, with the classical music, you know, and sitting in an orchestra and, I didn’t hear the trumpet the way salsa trumpet players hear the trumpet,
and I still don’t.
JOHN SNELL: How, how so?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Um, and this might piss off trumpet players. I really don’t care. You.
JOHN SNELL: Hey, I mean, all we have to do is talk about valve oil and heavy valve caps. You know, someone’s bound to get upset.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. Um, I guess one of the issues that I had when I got out the army and I went to New York, and this is why we’re gonna talk about the whole salsa scene, is when I got out the army, I was a full-time student at Rutgers University and my trumpet teacher was Professor Fielder.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: You know, he taught to me the best trumpet players in the United States, especially in the jazz world.
Let’s start with the most famous person, which is [00:23:00] Winton.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: And then you have Terrence, um, Michael, Phillip Mosman, younger Kat, Sean Jones, and there’s many more, you know, and basically what a lot of people don’t understand, and this stuff kind of pisses me off. They think that because we’re jazz trumpet players, we can’t play the trumpet correctly. Know, it’s like they put us kind of like in a box, you know, like, especially at, in, at the, at the collegiate level, they’re like, well, if you’re gonna learn how to play a trumpet, we can’t put you with the jazz cat. We gotta put you with a classical cat. You know, it’s just the way it is, it’s basically, it’s racism. Right. Um, because a lip slur is a lip slur. Clark is Clark, you know, so when I practice Clark, I could practice it, let’s call it, with a classical vibe,
and then I could practice it with my jazz articulation, you know, with a da tongue, short, long pop. You know, [00:24:00] there’s so many different configurations, right? I don’t really have a, a classical approach of playing anymore. I could do both worlds, but since I don’t do any classical gigs, I don’t really waste my time.
Trying to work on any orchestral excerpts or hinman or anything like that. I mean, I could, I still have certain things memorized, I’ll play through it, but since I know what it’s supposed to sound like, if I were to play pictures with my setup, it’s not gonna sound the way I want it to sound, you know?
Or if I play Char it’s not, you know, it’s gonna sound different, which there’s nothing wrong with that,
but I have that, that sound in my head the way it’s supposed to sound like a serious classical trumpet player. But, um,
okay, so with Prof, you know, he hung out a lot with Chick. He knew Chitz and he knew but her,
so his whole approach is that Arnold Jacobs beautiful tone.
And the problem that I had was, you know, everything is really centered, very [00:25:00] beautiful. But then when you’re playing salsa music, to me it was above my comfort zone
JOHN SNELL: Hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: and I was constantly having to play with people that play way louder than me. So then I tried to play with them and I did more damage. now I’m not a high note trumpet player. And back in the nineties, if you weren’t a high note trumpet player, you’re basically considered a mediocre trumpet player, which to me didn’t really make sense. It’s like, okay, I don’t have high G’s or F’s, so what? But I could play C’s and D’s and play it correctly and support you, you know, and the issue that I had was like, you got cats that could play great lead, and then you put ’em to play second or third trumpet and they’re playing louder than the lead trumpet player.
That to me is terrible trumpet playing,
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: right? So like, for example, I remember I was playing with a lead player and he was playing a [00:26:00] phrase that repeated, and it was like, let’s say it was like, right, and then the second time he would do so about that. And I’m like, dude, which one is it? And then they get mad at me, well, well, do you wanna play lead? I’m like, no, I’m not a lead player. But you’re playing lead and you’re changing it, or you’re releasing on three now and then you releasing on four. And if, I release on four like you did the last time, but then you release on three, then I’m hanging. And that sounds so they weren’t used to somebody being so strict with the music,
JOHN SNELL: Yeah. Attention to the music.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: so you know what I’m saying? So I didn’t do well. And then, you know, playing gigs until three, four in the morning and then taking a trumpet lesson at 10 o’clock at night in the morning, the lips didn’t vibrate. So if I’m doing chick, it’s like, and then I’ll get, [00:27:00] I’ll get my butt chewed by prof.
It’s like, what’s going on? And so it never, it never. I never did well. And also one of the things that I did wrong that I learned later in life, I practiced too much. Like I, I’m kind of like a crazy genius that I can be, I can practice in for long periods of time and not get bored.
I feel like a lot of young kids have a problem that they can’t practice for a long period of time.
’cause so they got more distractions ’cause they got their cell phones. With Instagram and TikTok and YouTube, we didn’t have that. You wanted to talk to somebody, you had to get out of the practice room and see who was outside and then maybe have a short conversation with them and then go back into the practice room.
So what I was doing before my gigs, I would practice six to eight hours a day.
JOHN SNELL: Geez,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: was, it was cool. Cool.
JOHN SNELL: So you’re, you’re playing 10, 12 hours a day.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Oh, yeah, yeah. Easy, easy.
JOHN SNELL: not more.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yep. And then I had gigs, some gigs, some of the, [00:28:00] the late guy gigs in Queens for the Columbia and started at three in the morning. So I, it was, it was even hard for me to play a a above the staff. It was hard. I could barely play a high C and I was like, man, do I need to practice more? But since I started listening to jazz at 22, I had so much catching up. So I was practicing all day and I was just doing more damage. I used to cut my lip here, Bach. I can’t, I’m not talking trash about Bach trumpets or mouthpiece ’cause they’re a great product. But the Bach mouthpiece was too sharp
for me and I would get cut. Um, and then I had to lay off, you know, for days
for it You’re injured. Yeah. So, but I just thought more was better. ’cause you know, you, especially in college, you have friends that play saxophone and you know, that instrument, those guys can just, they don’t shut up. You know, they could play all day.
You ever notice,
you never, you never hear a tenor player take the horn [00:29:00] out and be like, oh, they always like, they take the horn out, like,
JOHN SNELL: Sheets, sheets of sound. You know, it’s funny, you know, we, ITG you know, the trumpet guild gets a, a bad rap because of, you know, the vendor rooms with the trumpet players trying to screech high
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah.
JOHN SNELL: this stuff. go to a sax conference sometime,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I can
imagine,
JOHN SNELL: go to a saxophone conference sometime. they have the trumpet players beat.
I, I have to say,
you know, so I want, I wanna back up a second. ’cause you, you mentioned a few kind of career points. you were at Interlochen, you were studying orchestral stuff, but then you just, you went to the, you served in the, the Army,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. Yeah.
JOHN SNELL: Was that, uh, right after high school?
You, you enlist right
PETE RODRIGUEZ: So I did I did, I did a semester with Bacha was very. supportive and he gave me a full ride to ma school music for four years.
JOHN SNELL: mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Uh, things didn’t go as well as I wanted to. And then, you know, my father was a veteran and I had cousins and uncles that were veterans, so I chose a different path. So I [00:30:00] dropped outta ma school music, and then I made, I don’t wanna say I made a mistake, but when I dropped out, I didn’t join an army band.
JOHN SNELL: Hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I actually decided to go, uh, infantry route. Um,
and that, was an amazing experience to, to challenge the body, but more, the most damage that I, that I have. Besides, I have some, injuries with my shoulders and a lot of other injuries, but the most, the, the, the worst injuries that I have are mental.
JOHN SNELL: Hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: That, you know, I don’t know if we wanna jump into that, but, um,
JOHN SNELL: The other, other side of the bell.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah.
so that’s.
JOHN SNELL: what, what did you do? Did you still play trumpet when you were serving or
PETE RODRIGUEZ: No, at, at first I didn’t, you know, I was full-blown infantry, and I did that. I, I, I don’t know if it was a year and a half or two, and I, I didn’t like it. It was, um, the army in [00:31:00] 88. It wasn’t the army that I thought it would be.
I felt like serving my country, especially in the infantry unit, I thought there was gonna be a brotherhood. I thought there was gonna be tons of respect,
I guess from what I’ve seen in movies. and when I joined, it was the complete opposite.
I grew up with love, I grew up with, tons of discipline, you know, Interlochen, you know, I got into my school of music, Northwestern, right? I had a full ride to Rice University. I know what it is to put in the time, you
know? And um, when I joined I knew that I was gonna have physical challenges, but I took care of that before I joined. ’cause I had one of my, I had two cousins that had joined like either six months or a year before me. So they told me, okay, work on your pushups.
Work on just staying at the pushup position. ’cause they’re gonna cha you know, that’s how they see who the weak people are. so when I joined the physical [00:32:00] part was, was easy. It was more so the mental part, the first time I was ever called a spicing a nigger was serving my country. And that was extremely painful to see how people of color were treated serving our country.
And I was like, and that’s when I was like, well, I can’t stay here
because it was so toxic. And then I started drinking and I don’t even drink, man. Like, I would
drink a 16 ounce of Budweiser before pt. Outta stress. Yeah.
JOHN SNELL: curious why you didn’t. Sign up for the band was, did you,
was there a, was that a conscious decision or was just something that you needed something different?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I just needed something different and I,
I needed a break. And, uh, do you know Rambo was very popular at the time and, I thought it was gonna be great. I thought it was gonna be a great journey. I was like, yeah, I know there’s hazing. You gotta mess with me at the beginning. But it’s like, it’s the [00:33:00] constant stuff, you know?
JOHN SNELL: . What, what called you back to the trumpet?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I guess the love, the love of music.
Um, I remember I was out in the field, I don’t know if it was 27 or 37 days, you know, without a shower. and we were all smelly, man, you know, and everybody got back to the barracks and my platoon, everybody rushes to the showers. I was the only one that just laid in my room. And I just listened to music laying. I didn’t wanna lay in the bed ’cause I was filthy. I was just laying on the floor. And I just, I think I listened to music for like two, three hours, bro.
JOHN SNELL: Hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: And after dealing with, ’cause the shit never stopped even when I got out of basic training.
And I didn’t have a problem with doing my duties. I have a problem with you calling me a pic and a [00:34:00] nigger
and telling me to do something that I have a problem with. And back then they had a problem with someone sticking up for themselves, especially the view of color. So I had a lot of duties that I had to do that I didn’t like doing.
So after a while, I transferred over to the band.
JOHN SNELL: They were able, you were able to do that,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: But this is the blessing. My dad came to see me a long story short, he knew this Sergeant Major, the Puerto Rican,
was a huge fan of my dad. that sergeant Major helped my paperwork get through because the people in the infantry unit hated me and they weren’t gonna let the paperwork go through. Which if they hated me, they should just get rid of me. Right? Why
keep me here? Right. But I was a good soldier, you know, I, like, I did what I had to do and I did it well. so I transferred over to the band and that helped a lot too. [00:35:00] But the issue with that band was the level of musicianship was pretty mediocre.
They had a couple of people that played really well. There was one guy, uh, E seven named Sergeant Busby that he knew, like he could. You know, and it was probably like two or three, but the majority of the people, like I call ’em weakened warriors,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: it’s not their fault. They just weren’t really into it, you know, back then the, audition, uh, process was a little bit lower than now.
Now with the economy, the local bands sound really good because there’s a lot more people with education, you know, like you got people with
master’s degree playing in these bands that
are
serious.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: They want that paycheck
’cause
JOHN SNELL: And the health insurance,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: health insurance, you know. So
I did that and I had issues there too. But then when I got out, I think within a week I was a full-time student at Rutgers and one of my good friends from Puerto Rico, saxophone player named David Sanchez, [00:36:00] he had told me to, he had told me to go to, Rutgers because. Prof and because of this guy named Ted Dunbar and Kenny Barron was there. And that’s where I auditioned to go there and there and there was, prof did me, he was very nice to me. ’cause I didn’t know how to improvise. He just took me into his studio because he liked my sound and my technique and he, he knew he could work with me, you
know? And I’m glad he took that chance.
JOHN SNELL: how were your chops? Like did you have to, did he have to come back? How? I mean, you were off for a few years and with that kind of trauma and stuff.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. Um, it took me, I think for when I auditioned for the band, my mom sent me my trumpets. ’cause at the time I had a acquired, like, I think I had a E-flat and a c and a B flat. Then the efl ba picked it for me. It was, it was, uh, long Bell, Bach,
DDE flat.
Remember those?
JOHN SNELL: Oh yeah.
What fun.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: so I could play the Nor Ruda, the Hayden, the Humel. So when I [00:37:00] auditioned for the band, I, I, it took me like a month or two to get ready. When I auditioned. They were, they couldn’t believe that a guy from an infantry unit was just as good as everybody in the band. ’cause you know, most people that joined infantry units, you know, were their, uh, I guess, I don’t know, muscle heads or whatever, you know,
JOHN SNELL: so as you’re at Rutgers, uh, what you, you shifted to jazz? What,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. I should. in the band, in the army, I remember hearing they had a lot of, a little jazz
group. And what I loved about it, his name was Sergeant Miller. He was a saxophone player. what I loved about it was, okay, you have to play the melody, but you could play it kind of like however you want. And then you get to be creative. Whereas in classical music, I felt like we were always so restricted. If you crack a note, oh my God, how dare you crack the opening statement of, you know, of [00:38:00] pictures. You know? It’s like, you know. So I kind of gravitated towards that. I didn’t know what I was doing. I knew it was gonna be hard work.
One of the first, uh, CDs I bought was Coltrane, and that was scary.
JOHN SNELL: What a way to start.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Whoa. I was like, I’m screwed.
How am I gonna play 26 2 or giant steps? What? I didn’t even know what he was doing.
I knew it was hard. And then, when I went to school, you know what, you know, a lot of people think like us jazz majors, all we doing is playing tunes.
No, I mean, we’re prof. You’re playing your horn, you know, ow Witch. And you’re, you know, he still had us doing a twos char Bishe, or is it bi? Or bi?
JOHN SNELL: Beach. Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. Depends on what part of the country you’re from.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. So, you know, I was still working on that and he never talked about jazz.
JOHN SNELL: Interesting.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: classical music, you know. Um,
JOHN SNELL: So you had to pick that up [00:39:00] somewhere else.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: well, yeah, the, the, you know, the guitar teacher that taught improv and then there’s a saxophone teacher there named Ralph Bowen. He was kind of like my lifesaver.
And I did independent study with him and that helped a lot.
And it is a lot of hanging, you know, this music, I tell young kids, you gotta hang and you gotta listen. So, because of my age, I was blessed to have seen the best people in the business. You know, I got to hang out two, three times with Dizzy Gillespie. Read Rodney, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Farrell Sanders. You know, the best people in the business that had their own sound.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: You know, I got to hang out. I was, you know who Eddie Palmer
is?
JOHN SNELL: of course. Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: So I was Eddie Palmer’s lead singer when I got outta the army. That’s another thing we haven’t said. I sing too, so I,
JOHN SNELL: Yeah. I was gonna say that tracks along with the trumpet plane,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. So I was his lead singer and I remember we at the North [00:40:00] Sea Jazz Festival and I see this cat behind the stage and I’m like, man, that guy looks like Freddie Hubbard.
But I only knew Freddie. I hadn’t seen him live yet,
so I only seen him on the CDs. And the band was stacked, man. The band was a lead player named Charlie Trumpet.
Brian Lynch,
JOHN SNELL: geez.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Comrad on trombone.
JOHN SNELL: Uh oh.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Jimmy Bosch, another beast of Latin music, David Sanchez. And then the rhythm section is like, best people in the world.
So I go up to Brian, I’m like, yo, Brian. Is that Freddy? And he’s like, yeah, motherfucker, that’s Freddy. I’m like, no way. Freddy’s here. So you know, everybody goes up to him and you know, I let, because Brian knew him well in Conrad and I just waited until everybody stopped talking to him. And then I hung out with Freddie for about an hour.
And
man, I
JOHN SNELL: insights? Was it a
PETE RODRIGUEZ: oh man. I mean, okay. Yeah, like he’s one of the reasons why I’m very strict on [00:41:00] how to pick a rhythm section. He says, man, you gotta learn how to pick a rhythm section because they’re gonna make you sound great or make you sound like shit. And he says, the king of that is Miles Davis. See all those bands that he has, they have to be team players. You know, I have to, because you can, you can have a badass bass player and a piano player, but they might not be able to click ’cause of their styles. Or a drummer that that’s constantly getting in the way or not, you know? So I’m always listening. To that when I, when I picked the right band.
And then he said, also check out Miles Davis on, on space.
He’s the king of space. And how one note fits through a whole set of chord changes. You know, like pick one or two notes and then you could just navigate that to through moment’s notice, you know, play a concert, be flat through that, you
know, that’s one of the things. And he says, you know, [00:42:00] study a trumpet man study, study your trumpet, warm up, cool down. And what I think one of the things that I do a lot different from trumpet players nowadays, like for example, I disagree and people probably gonna hate me for this, but I really don’t care. but IS the older I got, and I, and I did competitive triathlons, duathlons and running, right? So I hired badass coaches. Like I had a coach that helped me out with Duathlons. He was a beast,
right? So if on Monday we doing a certain amount of speed training, running short core stuff, you know, like I’m trying to get my six, I’m trying to, if I’m trying to get my 5K down to a six minute mile, I’m gonna do 10, 400 meter repeats at a minute, within a minute rest, right?
Because what I need to do is I need to. I need to run my 400 meters [00:43:00] in 90 seconds in order for it to be six minutes. So if I can do 10 at a minute, then once I run at 90 seconds, that’s gonna feel easier,
right? But then
what I’m
JOHN SNELL: your left hand, you know? Same thing.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yep. But what I’m gonna do on Tuesday is not gonna be the same because I beat up my legs on Monday, so I need to do something more easier.
So maybe I’ll hop on the bike and do an easy spin for two, three hours outta conversational pace. So I look at the trumpet that way. What I do on Monday, let’s say if I’m doing, you know, Clark, da da, da, da, I’ll do maybe five, six keys, and then I’ll do, you know, maybe I’ll do some of, um, lip slurs right. On Tuesday, I’ll do some different lip slurs, maybe out of the Laurie Frank book, and then some Chile rates on, on Wednesday.
You know, I’ll do something different. I’m constantly switching it up. I, I, and then. I’m constantly studying my body. If I didn’t sleep well, if I didn’t hydrate [00:44:00] the level of stress, and then I notice that when I take a day off, I come back stronger. the cyclists that do the Tour de France after Tour de France, man, I think they take off like three weeks. And the
only reason why I know stuff like this, I live in Texas, so I race bikes with people that ride the Tour de France.
So I’ve picked their brains, you know, so, I’ve learned how to study my body and when I take days off, it’s funny, like I actually sound stronger, which most people I notice, I don’t know if it’s more mental, that they feel if they take a day or two off. It’s gonna go downhill. Like my family and I went to Japan last summer for two weeks. I didn’t take my trumpet, I took my mouthpiece, but we were so tired from sightseeing all day. I barely did any mouthpiece drills. And I came back, you know, since I didn’t have any gigs right when I came back, I was just able to start slow with lip slurs, lip bands, Chile, you know,
I’m actually not gonna just take the trumpet outta the case.[00:45:00]
JOHN SNELL: Well, you know, it’s, it’s of an interesting point. I mean, the mindset, but also, I mean, I’ve, I’ve heard famously that Bud Seth would take the summers off, you know, when the Chicago Symphony, when their season ended, he would take, uh, the summer off, go travel to Sweden and, uh, you know, do maybe some music festivals, this or that.
And then, uh, a few weeks before the, um, uh, season would start again, he’d go through the top Tones
book,
ease into it a little bit. And then he was ready to go for the first week of the season, you know,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: at that. yeah.
JOHN SNELL: But, but, but it’s, it’s, yeah. I mean, we, we latch onto those statements, you know, the, uh, uh, doc Severson would say, and he might be quoting someone else, you know, if you take one day off, you know, you know, if you take two days off, the, the section knows.
And if you take three days off, the audience knows, and it’s like, we, we were told that, and I, I get it, like. You know, if you have a lazy student or someone who needs a kick in the pants, yeah. You need to motivate ’em and say, you know, go, go, [00:46:00] go. But then there’s, there’s a, there’s a gray area or a fine line between, discipline and doing something and putting in the hard work while also listening to your body, listening to your mind, you know, your stress level.
Sometimes going in and doing a hard routine is not what you need and you just need to play some simple melodies.
Or you need to go sit on a lake somewhere and read a book,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. And you
know,
like I, I love
Doc.
JOHN SNELL: feel guilty about it. That’s the
thing. And not feel guilty about
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah, yeah. Like, I love Doc, you know, I got to hang out with him at the ITG in Miami, right before COVID. Were you there?
JOHN SNELL: Uh, yeah. I was there with the Miami one. Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah, So We, we
probably even ran into each other because I was hanging,
I was hanging out with you. Remember there was a point that we were hanging out in front of the hotel. It was Jose, it was Doc. What’s the name of the tall dude that teaches in La
Johns Johns right.
JOHN SNELL: Ys, Lindeman. Yz. He was there. We were hanging out.
Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: You know, and I feel like somebody [00:47:00] like Doc, he’s so old school that, that, what you just mentioned is so true that they will say that. But you know, like it’s kind of like the way people train, running and cycling in the fifties is different than now.
You know, like I’m an the artist in resident at the conservatory of Puerto Rico. A lot of these kids don’t know how to put together a practice routine. So my job to me as their educator is like, okay, ’cause they’ll just do the same thing every day. I was like, no, change it. You know, change it up. And then, you know what, if you feel tired today, you know, analyze and think about what has happened in your life?
Did you sleep well? Were you partying too much? Are you stressed because you have tests on Friday? You know what, put the trumpet down. Put it in the, in the in the locker and go for a walk because they’re really close to the beach. And then come back. And also when you’re taking off, you’re not really taking off ’cause you’re still listening to music. Right. that’s very important. You know, like, okay, [00:48:00] if, and even if you’re playing classical music, if you, if you know you gotta play pictures, man, listen to that. All the different versions
or ska, you know, listen to that when you’re going for that hour walk.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah. Sing it finger through it. You
know, there’s other ways to practice without the horn on your
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yep, yep. Prof used to have us just do, you know, so, uh, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way.
I think, uh, I think a lot of teachers from back in the day, they didn’t give us a good routine. Kind of like, you know, a cycling coach or a running coach gives you, or even a, if you’re a gymnast, you know, it’s like they’re switching it up and it’s not just the same thing every, every day.
And I just think that’s the, and that’s, and I don’t wanna say that’s the old school way of teaching, it’s. Because people still do that nowadays. So
like when I teach the kids and I create them a, a, a routine, they’re [00:49:00] like, oh, wow, I would’ve never thought about that. You know, we’re basically in 2026. You know?
JOHN SNELL: Right.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I mean, do you do that? I mean, do you have a different routine?
JOHN SNELL: Oh, well, you got all day. Uh, I mean, I’m, I’m definitely one of those, uh, I mean, I put in my hours for several years, you know, similar to you. I would, you know, just play all day. especially, and I was studying student at Charlie Davis, you know, so we did the Adam routine and did that religiously. And there’s still times when I get into that.
but, uh, I, I, I practice when I need to, and the rest of the time I just have fun playing my instrument, you know, and I find that if my plane gets better, because I’m not practicing, I’m doing what I want to do. And look, if I feel like my articulation or my range or something is suffering, yeah, I’ll sit down and I’ll, you know, woodshed for a little bit to work through those issues.
but I feel like I learn better when I’m making music and having fun,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Do you know, I love what you just said. Now, one of the guys that I forgot to mention that he was a [00:50:00] great, he’s still a great teacher, and we talk, we haven’t spoken in a couple of months, but it’s the great Peter Bond
JOHN SNELL: Oh yeah, I’ve had Peter on the, uh, on the podcast,
man. What a great guy.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Oh, great. He taught me at Rutgers for one year.
just just a great human being. And a, and he, like, he says, man, play music. Don’t play the trumpet. You know, so and he’s one of those cats, but I can just call him and he always picks up.
It’s very rare he doesn’t pick up and he’s just. Just a great teacher man,
you know, and having that gig for so long with the man, and he’s one of those cats that he didn’t get the gig at a young age. I think he,
he got
the, he quit playing. He quit playing. He’s got a fascinating story. So if those listening, I’d go, I forgot what episode is, it’s a few years back. But listen to just listen to Pete Bond’s story. ’cause he, he, I mean, and he was a drum corps player.
JOHN SNELL: Uh, you know, he was a high note guy, totally complete, you know, quit playing and then someone convinced him to go get his master’s degree so he did, and then he won the Met, you know, it’s like,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I [00:51:00] know.
JOHN SNELL: yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. It is not like he won the Met at 22,
I think he might have been in his mid thirties,
right? Or something.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but, uh, so I, I, I’m curious then, you know, after Rutgers, how did your career progress, after school were, I mean, you were already freelancing, you said you were, you know, playing in salsa clubs till three, four in the morning and then having to go to lessons.
so, you know, how did things transition after school?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: So while I was getting my bachelor’s and Master’s degree, I was still, you know, gigging a lot with Eddie Premier. I was directing my dad’s band playing trumpet, doing background vocal school, sometimes singing Lee trumpet and hanging a lot, you know, the early nineties was great. I got to see Branford and his, you know, at that time, which his band was killing Winton back then when he did more quintet work, which that’s the Winton I think most of us loved the most.
You know, like the Winton MAs quintet era, you know, black codes, you know,
JOHN SNELL: Oh yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: you know, RO Hargrove, may he rest in peace. In the nineties he was on fire.
JOHN SNELL: What a scene. Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: [00:52:00] oh no. That scene, it was like I barely slept, man. Um,
JOHN SNELL: So you were, you were,
touring with Eddie and touring with your, with your father.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: doing with my dad, I also subbed a lot with Toshi Kaki Yohi with Chico Farrow. that’s probably Banton doing a lot of recordings. Recordings that I, I don’t even remember. And I was also do jingles ’cause I did so many And you’re just hustling so much, you know, ’cause you know, life is crazy in New York, man.
And the gigs don’t add up. My first gig as a leader in New York City, what I did was I went with, uh, this guitar player, may he rest in peace. He, we went to all like these little cafes and little bars and dropped off tapes to get a gig. And the only club that answered this back was the best club. It’s called the 55 Bar, which it doesn’t exist anymore. And when we got called from there, I was like, holy shit, this is amazing. And it’s not too far from the Vanguard and Smalls and the gig paid, uh, [00:53:00] horrific, but we didn’t even care ’cause it was the 55 bar and we got $80 for the whole band.
JOHN SNELL: Oh
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Three sets starting at 10 o’clock, 10 30 at night, and you get free liquor. And there was a popcorn machine at the, at the end. So just imagine sometimes it was five people, sometimes it’s six $80 for the whole band.
And I never even complained about, I was like, man, I got this gig. And that’s where I really learned how to be a band leader. ’cause you know, I was composing music, doing arrangements of standards.
And then, then from there you go to a jam session and, and then constantly hanging out. ‘ cause you know, when you go see Freddie Hubbard, I’m looking at it this way. I look at how he walks on stage, how he, how he interacts with the crowd, how he announces the tune, how he announces the bands, how he picks his set list, you know, and there’s no, nothing set in stone.
I remember [00:54:00] seeing Branford like. He’s one of my favorite tunnel players and I remember him, I think his set started with Jeff T. Watts taking like a five minute drunk solo. I’ve never seen anybody do that. I’ve seen people start with a ballad.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I, you know, I’ve seen people finish the set with a ballad and that was beautiful ’cause everybody was so quiet and it was so beautiful.
And the solos weren’t intense. It was just, everybody kind of like stayed within the melody and it was almost meditational. So when it was done, people clapped, but it was almost, a crowd was at peace. But then I saw Faroh Sanders and he had people screaming because it was, there was something in the era, you know, he’s from that era with train. And I remember when I went to go see him, somebody told me that night’s gonna be magical. And I didn’t know. I was like 24. I had heard the CDs. But when I got to see him [00:55:00] live, people were just screaming of joy.
And it’s not like he was like, all these, you know, it was just so melodic and beautiful. And it wasn’t about licks, it was about playing music and I couldn’t sleep.
I was like, I, you know, ’cause Rutgers was about 90, uh, about an hour, an hour and 15 minutes away. So you have that sound in your head, driving to school, and then you have that motivation for the next whatever. Couple of days. Got to see Jackie McLean. It was the same thing that all those people had something special.
And it doesn’t matter what genre, right? Like, I, I say it’s the same genre. Like I felt it was the same thing between listening to salsa giants like my dad, Ray Barreto, and then hearing Freddie Hubbard and Farrah Sanders, they all had one thing in common. The love and the respect towards the music and that [00:56:00] energy. Seia Cruz had it. Hector Lao Red Rodney. It’s like a special thing.
Roy Hargrove had it, you know, it’s a certain energy on stage. See? Sorry. You see this
guy?
JOHN SNELL: we got a friend. This is a, a treat for our YouTube
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. We have another friend coming in a second too. You gonna laugh when you see him?
Hold on a sec.
JOHN SNELL: See the, the, our podcast listeners don’t get the video. Uh, they don’t get to see the animals that,
oh, this
is our first bird.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. This is Pancho.
JOHN SNELL: Poncho?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Pancho. Yeah,
JOHN SNELL: gray Parrot?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: he is, uh, African gray.
JOHN SNELL: African Gray,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, He might He might curse.
No cursing. No cursing, so,
JOHN SNELL: then that, that’ll be two firsts for the podcast First Bird and the first cursing bird. I love it. you know, so I mean, I get what you’re saying about like the charisma.
I mean, not just, you know, the presentation, but the music, the charisma and the music that [00:57:00] those legends create. And I mean, you were surrounded by them since birth. and I know I particularly, ’cause, I mean we just lost Eddie Pier this last summer,
um, and I know you were very close to him. Like, what did you learn from them, you know, like working, next to Eddie for so many years, for example?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Wow. That’s an amazing question. When I think of Eddie,
I think energy.
This fire, like I think. If you believe in God, right? The universe. I think God put Eddie Palmer in this planet to do what he did. There’s certain people that are put on this planet, miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, duke Ellington. And I just remember traveling with him and we would be exhausted.
You know, you go to Spain and or a gig in New York and he was just so exhausted. And and Eddie was interesting at the time when I was his lead singer, he didn’t have a set [00:58:00] list. So I’m like, what’s the first tune? So I never knew what was going on. So what I could, what I had to go by was that first chord, oh, it’s this tune. Now let me focus. Oh, that’s how these lyrics go. ’cause we never rehearsed. That was another thing. But as soon as he started playing that piano and that band started playing. It is just this energy that just came in through your feet and your, your whole body was just lit up. And that’s what I think of when I, when I think of Eddie Par,
JOHN SNELL: Hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: that love, he had each known, and I call him the, the, the Puerto Rican Thelonious Monk. You know, he don’t mind playing a minor second and just land on that and just keep on playing that minor second,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: you know, I never got to see Monk, but my dad did. So I’m a huge fan of Monk and I love dissonance, you know, so I loved playing with Eddie Parri. But I would say the [00:59:00] energy, like his music has, you know, you could tell it’s Eddie Palm’s music by just the first chord, we lost one of the giants, you know what I’m saying? You could go see him play and he’s taking a solo, there’s a trumpet solo. A lot of the sauce of music nowadays. There’s no piano of solos. it’s changed. It’s, a lot of it is, is, it’s watered down.
Mm-hmm.
JOHN SNELL: and those stuff coming outta Cuba, and I mean, so much of that was piano centric. you know, horns will get solos, you know, uh, but yeah, it’s, it has,
it’s changed.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. Like Tcho is another guy. I did a recording with him and I traveled with his dad. Same thing. That energy,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: the, you know, the Valez family is, is, I also got to play with a guy named, uh, Cacha.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: you know who he
is. know. Yeah,
Yeah. So it was crazy, like I didn’t play [01:00:00] trumpet with Cacha because the trumpet player that he had at the time was a beast from Puerto Rico named Juanito Torres. So they needed a background vocalist. So since I was good at that and playing Latin percussion, I just sat and I played Marca Guido, and I did background vocals. So I got to learn watching Cacha play and then Juanito in the back, thank God that God blessed me with vocal chords, and my dad taught me how to play these minor percussion instruments.
And I, and if we’re gonna, we’re gonna move into another segment. So I’ve won, I have three Grammys,
right? So the court, the, the issue that I have with the Grammys is, and, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but I disagree with the Grammys. So let’s say we both play for the Lakers
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: and we make it to the finals, but I get injured and I don’t play any of the finals.
I, and we win the championship. I get a ring right? Even if
I’m sitting [01:01:00] on the bench, right?
JOHN SNELL: no. Do you?
you
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. Everyone gets a ring.
JOHN SNELL: gets a ring.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Everyone gets a ring, right? Even if you’re sitting on the bench, well, remember you, you helped to get
there. You didn’t get a ring.
JOHN SNELL: the season? Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, so with the Grammys, like I want two Grammys with Di Puente,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: but I don’t get a Grammy. Puente gets a Grammy,
JOHN SNELL: Oh,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I get a certificate that I gotta pay for now.
JOHN SNELL: you got a,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: You know what I’m saying?
that, a certificate that you have to pay ’cause you, you helped on the album that won the Grammy, but it’s Tito’s name on it.
Yeah,
I think it, I think it, has to say that I was a guest in
order for me to get one. So I have issues with that. So I can’t say that I’m a Grammy winner, I have to say, which is bs. Is that, I’m gonna record that. 1, 2, 3 Grammys. So. Thank God I could sing and I could play minor percussion because none of the Grammys that [01:02:00] I have, I’ve played trumpet. So the two Tito Puente, they needed background vocalists. So they, someone I don’t know who did they called my sister and I, and they knew how tight my sister and I are doing background vocals because we did background vocals for my dad and it was a live recording, so they needed somebody that was gonna be serious, not making tons of mistakes.
JOHN SNELL: up and do it. Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: And you know, my sister knows a lot about music. She studied at the conservatory of Puerto Rico. She played flu. we had all the, I think we had all the, the lyrics memorized, the background vocals and we nailed it. I think out of everybody that did that live recording, we are the only people that didn’t have to go back to the studio and edit.
I didn’t have to edit any of the vocals or the moras.
JOHN SNELL: One and done.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. and then the third Grammy is with Brian Lynch. Brian Lynch gave me my first, you know, I should have said this a long time ago. My first Josh Trumpet teacher was Brian Lynch.
JOHN SNELL: Okay. I was just gonna say, where you pick, start picking up the
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
And he’s a [01:03:00] big brother. and I called him one day when I was living in Texas and like, Brian, I’m going to New York.
Let’s, let’s do some shedding. He’s like, yeah, but can you bring your, your percussion? I’m like, for what? It’s like to plan this record. I’m like, okay. Like, so I think it was like 10 tunes. So I said, let me do this. Let me lay down the Maras. We on the Cate. So now 10 tunes is 30 tunes, because I lay him aka one tune, then the Wio, and then, right. So that record won a Grammy, and it’s a record that he did with Eddie Palm, but I didn’t get to see anybody because I went when everything was done.
JOHN SNELL: You were just laying down the percussion. Uh,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. So,
JOHN SNELL: part of it.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. Yeah. But you know, I didn’t get a Grammy. Brian did.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: You know, so hopefully, you know, in the new future, I’ll get one.
JOHN SNELL: Maybe you’re one of your up upcoming projects. We’ll, we’ll start talking about, so you studied, studied jazz with, uh, with Brian. Anyone else after Brian?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: no. The main guy was, I, I took like, uh, in the, I took a course, [01:04:00] I stayed with this guy for like two years out Boston. His name is, um, Charlie AKAs,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: and we’d worked on a lot of improv stuff. And he taught, like Danes, I think Pat Mathey, Mike Stern, like anybody in the Boston area, they all know who Charlie Bongas is,
the legend. And I loved his studio. He did something different. Like, first of all, you had to audition for the studio, and I studied, uh, not even online via tape. This was before the computer industry. And, uh, so you had to pay for the whole month. And I forget how much time he had. If you had to practice, the stuff that he gave you, you had to write out everything before Vals and finale. So you writing out everything that he told you to practice and, and then you had to, the patterns you had to write out. And then you had to write out your own, own improvisational ideas. And then you had to play them and record ’em on the tape. And if you didn’t do it within a [01:05:00] certain time, he kicked you out of the studio.
So he was getting rid, he was getting rid of the lazy people, which I think is brilliant,
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: so I studied with him a lot and I guess earlier the saxophone teacher at Rutgers, Ralph Bowen. I also studied with Lori Frank for, for a while, for like two years
JOHN SNELL: Wow. Another
legend.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I would go to her apartment in, in Manhattan and she was great.
Took a couple of lessons with big,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
Yeah, you brought him up at the, at the beginning of the podcast and unfortunately, um, you know, while our dear friend Carlos, uh, was trying to get me connected with Victor a few years ago, well, I guess it was a number of years ago now, and, uh, to get him on the podcast and he. Unfortunately passed away,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah.
JOHN SNELL: before we could get him on.
Uh, would you mind telling folks, I mean, a lot, I know a lot of people are familiar with Victor, but a lot of us aren’t. tell me a little bit about Victor and you. I mean, you heard him from basically when you were, uh, young, right?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. So, you [01:06:00] know, a lot of people know that he played lead in, uh, in Kaz, you know, the Broadway
thing. I never got to see him do that. he did a lot of funny all star recordings. So one recording that if somebody that’s watching this is gonna be a maze. So a song that my father sang is called Soy La. I was in the studio when, when Victor recorded the trumpet studio.
Like I, I can envision it.
JOHN SNELL: You were there. Oh,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: there and I saw him take that solo sitting down
JOHN SNELL: What was the name of the tune?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: soy, SOY la LA lay LEY. it was ridiculous. It, it, it is a very iconic solo, you know, he’s one of these guys, like very precise trumpet player, like a studio musician vibe. Like, if you were gonna play with him, you have to have your, your stuff, right.
You’re not overblowing, you know, if he’s like, [01:07:00] I just, I just sang a, a lick from a another band. But you make sure you playing that phrase the same way because you what you heard that, He would, uh,
JOHN SNELL: Poncho.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: he would stop the band and be like, yo, what you doing? Like, he was really strict. I got to do some gigs with him when he was older. even when he was old, he was on point.
He didn’t over blow.
JOHN SNELL: You got to play with him. Oh,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. Yeah. He didn’t over blow, which I loved, you know. and I took some lessons with him. His whole thing. I, I think I just took a handful. He worked on the Arban a lot, that first and second page, all those long tones and half notes.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: And it’s interesting because I noticed, I remember hearing people say it in New York, oh my God, studying William is so hard.
That first and second page of the ARBs is so difficult. I’m like. I didn’t have any problems with that when [01:08:00] I played it for him. I was like, I could do this all day. My, my main issue was the upper register.
I don’t have a problem with my attacks. I mean, remember I’m coming from a different background than a lot of people in, you know, in the ALSA world.
You know, I met, I mentioned Gil Johnson, professor Fielder, you know what I’m saying? It’s like I don’t have that issue. I’m not fracking notes in the
middle register all the time. like I remember prof had me working on the Hummel, and I remember in the lesson I went Papa, and I remember spending like a whole hour papa. Ba Papa. Papa, like an hour. And guess what? I didn’t crack that again, you know,
JOHN SNELL: Yeah. That the focus [01:09:00] on cleanliness and precision.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
Play with the mouthpiece. Papa, pa, pa, close, the, the whole Papa, Papa, papa. You know? So doing those lessons with, with Victor, that to me, they were easy, uh, playing. And I know I’m gonna had a lot of haters out there, but once again, I really don’t care.
I could play, I mean, the first and second page was easy for me.
Um, like I said, my, my kryptonite back then was, was the seriously playing. And I’m not a lead player,
but it, it was just, it took me forever to figure that out, you know? And, and I still approach the trumpet differently, you know, from a jazz standpoint, you
know, I’m not, you know, there’s this guy in la, I forget his name, uh, Mexican kid. He always wears a hat. Is it Javier lead player?
JOHN SNELL: Uh oh. Yeah. Yeah. Javier. Yeah. Yeah,
yeah.
Does the guy just dancing with the stars?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. And he also, like, he does a lot of lead pipe stuff. I’ve tied his stuff and then when I hear [01:10:00] him play his upper register’s killing, man, I, I checked out his, uh, his videos and this, it is great stuff, but I could
see like the red,
JOHN SNELL: Sorry, Javi.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
JOHN SNELL: He Sorry, Javier. Yeah. We literally went to, literally, literally went to CSUN together. Cal State, north Ords together.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Oh my god. And you forgot his
last, name.
JOHN SNELL: yeah. Well, ’cause I just know it was Javier. Yeah. Gonzalez. Oh yeah. And another guys need to get on here ’cause uh, yeah. Amazing player.
I mean,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I’ve seen his videos in the upper register for him, it is
just completely flows. Uh, hopefully I’ll meet him one day,
JOHN SNELL: Uh, super sweet cat and, uh,
love, you know, trumpet geek like all of us, you
know, always, always, learning, always trying to figure out ways to do things better,
even though the guy was playing, you know, moto perpetual when in college, you know?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: you, ever notice, like, I notice people my age, they’re always complaining that the trumpet is just kicking their butt. I mean, we all have those days,
right. But I feel like, [01:11:00] and a shout out to the guy that makes my horns now, which I
love, is Jason Harrelson.
I think he’s a genius with his mouthpieces in the trumpet, and I feel like his mastery of making horns and mouthpieces has made my life easier. Like I noticed the more relaxed time I am, the easier it is to play the horn. and I feel like with me listening to my body and adjusting my practicing routines, I’m actually playing better at almost 57 than when I was 40, which most people my age, all I hear them is complain that, man, I’m going downhill.
I don’t sound as good. My fingers are slower. I, you know, it’s like I can’t, you know, so I’m just getting better, which is, I think has to do a lot with the haroldson, trumpet, the mouthpiece.
And I figured out how to put a routine together, [01:12:00] and I think that’s something that’s very important that a lot of trumpet players need to hear.
And trumpet, you know, teachers
that not all trumpet players are built the same. That I bet that what Javi does. Might not work for me. I mean, Javi’s more of, of a person that plays what’s on the page. Right. A lead player
JOHN SNELL: Uh, he does everything. I mean, he’s a,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I’m saying. But,
JOHN SNELL: but
PETE RODRIGUEZ: but what he does daily is,
JOHN SNELL: Well, yeah, he does studio stuff and he does like some of the TV shows, live tv. but I mean, he’s, I mean, he plays jazz. He
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
I’m saying, but his his main bread and butter is, is, is doing the lead stuff.
Right. So like, I think, Yeah.
so I think his approach to his Trump of playing is gonna be totally different for somebody like me, that it’s more the small group stuff,
the more creative stuff that’s all day. I’m never, I never have to play high Gs only in a solo,
JOHN SNELL: Yeah, that’s true.
Yeah. Yeah. Different, [01:13:00] different needs.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. So, his approach is different, I’m guessing, you know?
JOHN SNELL: He’s, he definitely stretches out the range,
that’s for sure. so Pete, so after years of being a sideman for percussion singing band leader, and freelancing, uh, what brought you to start recording your own projects?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I mean, I, I, I was, I was always doing my own stuff, you know, either doing gigs, and after I got my master’s degree in 2000, no, wait, 1997, I was a freelancer
for a while. You know, Eddie Palm, my dad, you know, and if some salsa bands didn’t have trumpets, I would do background vocals, Subhi, KHI, Chico, Farrow. and I hadn’t recorded yet. And then I noticed that having a master’s degree wasn’t enough. so I decided to get my doctor degree. But, um, in 2000 when my father died, I fell into a deep depression [01:14:00] for three years. Uh, I
started selling all my horns.
JOHN SNELL: geez.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. It was pretty brutal. I, I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and my wife had to hide one of my trumpets.
’cause she’s like, Nope, we’re gonna keep one. And thank God she did.
JOHN SNELL: Bless her heart. Oh my God.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah,
JOHN SNELL: You ma, you married up?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah man. I mean, I tell people this with no hesitation. The only reason why you and I are talking right now is
because of her. Um, I probably would not. I know. No, I know for a fact I would not be playing without my wife.
JOHN SNELL: Amazing. So she hit a trumpet ’cause she knew you were just getting rid of everything.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. She knew that.
Um,
JOHN SNELL: gosh.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: so after my dad died, and then nine 11 happened and. Trying to find work. So I ended up being a public school music teacher in New Jersey, new Brunswick. And that was horrific. just because I couldn’t [01:15:00] figure out how to put together a program where I taught one through eight graders and
I met with them once a week for 40 minutes.
What am I supposed to do with that?
JOHN SNELL: Can’t even learn their names in that time,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: No, dude.
JOHN SNELL: an instrument and have
an ensemble.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: So doing that and seeing how hard it was, it triggered me to go get my doctorate degree. So, I had liked Texas ’cause it was more chill and I also, I went to ut ’cause it was cheaper than going to NYU and Ray Sasaki was there,
JOHN SNELL: Ah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: which I love. Ray. he’s a cat. Like, he’s more into the classical stuff, but he can dabble in jazz, you know. But our lessons were more so trumpet playing.
It wasn’t really, we never really focused on jazz. It was just trying to be a better trumpet player in order for me to execute the things that I want to execute as a jazz trumpet player. Right. so I picked up the trumpet, you know, once I said, I can’t teach here anymore. I, and I had, [01:16:00] I picked up the trumpet within a month or two I auditioned for ut and then I ended up calling a dear friend of mine that was the trombone player at the Vanguard Orchestra,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: bandish Vanguard. And I said, Hey Luis, his name is Luis Bonia. I wanna give him a shout out from Costa Rica. And I said, Hey, um, can you put me on the guest list, man?
’cause I’m going to Texas and I’m not sure when I’m coming back and I want hear the band. He says, absolutely, man. Um, but do you want to play in Bebo Byles band? And I thought it was like a joke. I’m like. Why would Bev will want me in his band. Bev was probably gonna want, you know, a Cuban, you know, like Arturo sandal or something like that. But it was this big band and they needed a trumpet player. I’m like, hell yeah.
So the first gig I got when only playing my trumpet for a month was Bevo Les Is Band. And it was right before like school was gonna start. So it kind of got me in shape, but I was still really outta shape
JOHN SNELL: Wow.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: and, [01:17:00] and then, you know, started school. and then after I graduated, I taught out of college, but that was a nightmare, lot of racism. Um, then I came back to New York thinking that things were gonna be better with the DMA, still couldn’t find work. You know, the, the problem with at my age is that. You know, and I had my master’s degree. There’s just so many amazing trumpet players now. But in the nineties, the competition was rigorous. You know, Randy Brecker, Brian Lynch, Michael Philip Mosman, Rory Hargrove, Scott Winhall, I mean, there’s so many more. So it was hard to get a teaching job anywhere. ’cause all these guys had these jobs, which they deserve ’em,
you know? So that’s why I got my DMA And then when I got my DMA, I still couldn’t find work in New York. And I’ve done a lot of odd jobs. You know, like people like, oh, you’re the son of Pete, you’re a millionaire. No, I mean, my dad died broke. He didn’t, he didn’t make like Mark Anthony money. You know, it’s like, uh, [01:18:00] so just the jobs that I’ve had, uh, I was a dog walker, that’s what, three Grammys and a DMA had eight dogs in my car and I had a, I had a Honda element. That was a great job. ’cause I get to hang out with dogs,
you know, ‘
JOHN SNELL: ’em out. They’re always happy to see
you.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah.
man, it’s like, uh, and if I ran them, I made more money. So some owners are like, man, he’s, this dog just needs more exercise. It’s like, okay. So if I ran them, I think they gave me like $25 for the day, a dog, you know? So I’m like, okay, I get to get fit and I get to run with a dog.
That’s goofy, you know? So I did that for a while. Also, I worked at a, like a, athletic store, like selling Garmin watches, wetsuits sneakers, like I said, once again with a DMA and at
$8 an hour, I was also physical. I was a physical therapist aid for three years.
JOHN SNELL: Wow.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I used to clean medical offices late at night [01:19:00] from like midnight to four in the morning
JOHN SNELL: Just to
make ends meet and Yeah. To
PETE RODRIGUEZ: You know, uh, and I did all that. And it’s funny, like when I’ve done all these things like. When I was, uh, physical therapist aid, I had quit playing. That was when my dad
died. And then when I was walking dogs, I wasn’t playing either. ’cause after my DMA it was just so hard to find work. And then my daughter was born and I’ve been a stay home dad since she was born.
And, I just didn’t practice and, you know, fell into depression again ’cause I couldn’t find any work.
And then we decided to move back to Texas because since I wasn’t working in New York, I’m like, why, why do I want to live here if I can’t work?
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: and I had more connections in Austin at the time so it was a little bit easier to find work.
But now it’s, it’s a shit show in
Austin. So I don’t even play in Austin anymore. And that’s another topic that we can talk about. Uh.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Um, dealt was some racism at a club. One of the, and now you know, I’m gonna [01:20:00] mention their name ’cause people need to hear this. And there’s actually a trumpet player that lives in la, Brian Schwartz,
that’s his name, wonderful trumpet player. He came, he had moved to Austin and I wanted to introduce myself to him. So, and Brian Lynch knew him. He said, oh man, go meet this cat. So I drove 30 minutes to meet him at a club that I played. I packed, I had a line out the door, and I’m sitting next to the drummer and I have my, I, I’m like this, right? Listening to the music. And the bartender hits me, says, Hey man, are you drunk? And I’m like, I’m not drunk and I don’t drink. He says, well, if you put your head down again and close your eyes, I’m gonna kick you out.
JOHN SNELL: What
PETE RODRIGUEZ: And I’m like, wait. I’m thinking, is this a prank, like one of my buddies, you know?
JOHN SNELL: he gets.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, because it’s unheard of. Right? I was like, you’re kidding, right? He’s like, no. And I was like, wait, wait. [01:21:00] So these four people here that are drunk and that are talking shit, that’s cool. He said, well, I’m just telling you what’s gonna happen if you do it again. So I left and this is a place that I would pack.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Then I run into the guy that does the booking, I run
into him at the Gen in Dallas, Texas, and I says, did you hear what happened to me? He says, yeah, I heard your head was on the table. So basically I’m like this. I’m like, so basically I’m what?
Some alcoholic drunk drug addict. I don’t even drink. And he says, well, that’s what I was told, and basically didn’t give a shit.
JOHN SNELL: They didn’t care.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: No.
JOHN SNELL: ’cause of some racist bartender or whatever. Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I,
you know, Austin, they, they have such, such great musicians. The talent is, is, is, is great. But what this town really loves, which is amazing, is they love, [01:22:00] standards. They want to hear their American song book. They’re not really into, hearing people trying to develop their own voice. This is not the proper town
for that.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: And there’s nothing wrong with that. Right. You know, playing
standards is great.
That’s how, that’s how you learn how to play this wonderful music. So, so I quit playing in town and, uh, right now I, I gig a lot in New York. I was in Atlanta. I have a tour in, in, in the Bay Area, which I wish it was closest so we can meet in
JOHN SNELL: Yeah. Well, one of these times.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah, so I’m working on a tour for la so,
JOHN SNELL: so make your own gigs
PETE RODRIGUEZ: so I have a nice, I have a great new booking agent. She’s, she’s scheduling, I’m gonna give a clinic at the San Francisco Conservatory in April and then playing at this club called The Black Hat. And um, uh, the new CD is called on Pete Rodriguez, volume one that came out last year
JOHN SNELL: yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: volume two comes out in June.
It’s on the Sunnyside Records.
Wonderful label. [01:23:00]
JOHN SNELL: Has it been recorded already or is it, uh,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. So what I did was, it was just cheaper. cause the label doesn’t pay for the cd.
I have to pay my guys, I have to pay for the studio, the meals, right. And the mixing and the master drinks. So I was like, if I go in the studio for two days, is let me record 19 tunes and then put out two records instead of just doing one record. ‘ cause it’s cheaper that way. And then all ju nowadays you
have to have video. So I had to hire a videographer. So I did all that. So now, you know, instead I have the next one coming out in June.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: and then I’m
JOHN SNELL: more bang for your buck.
One, one studio, One, set of musicians. Two albums.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yes. Especially nowadays since a lot of labels can’t afford to pay for the recording, it’s like, okay, which, which is the cheapest route, you know?
It’s like, okay. It was hard work doing 19 tunes in two days. My
brain was fried.
JOHN SNELL: Were they all originals or a
PETE RODRIGUEZ: [01:24:00] Yeah. Everything was in, everything was original except one tune, which I did a reharmonization of, uh, of a very famous, um, salsa toon.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: So on all my records, I always do contra facts. A lot of people don’t know what that is, so I’ll just explain it to the audience.
So contra fact is basically a new melody based off the changes of another person. So I did a contra fact over, uh, stable Mac by the Lake Ray Benny Goldson, and, One finger snapped by Herbie Hancock. So
what I do is I use their court changes, but I disguise my new melody so the listener cannot tell what the tune is based off. So that that’s a goal. And this is something that Kenny Barron had me do when I first started, learning how to play jazz. He was like, uh, the first thing he had us do was it was extremely stressful for me to compose a new tune, right? So he says, okay, [01:25:00] Pete, don’t worry about composing a new tune.
Write an intro for Jazz standard judge, like let’s say on green, do street, write an intro. After the melody is played, do a little interlude that introduces the first soloist and the second soloist, and maybe do a second interlude that introduces the third soloist. And then after the melody is played. Come up with something different like a tag. So then you’re not stressed out on creating a new song. You’re just adding to a song that already exists. But you’re also giving it, he said the Pete Rodriguez flavor, so you’re not too stressed of composing a new tune. And then the second thing he had us do was compose a new melody over a set of changes.
Like I have a crazy melody over. So by Miles Davis.
JOHN SNELL: Oh, cool.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. So I always do that on every record. So on this record that’s out. Now I have two contra facts
for the next record. I don’t think I put a contra factor in that one. ’cause I put the two of them on this recent one. [01:26:00] And then whenever I put out the next one, the goal now is to write ’em one over giant steps. Donna Lee. And uh. recording me by Joe Henderson. That’s
the goal I have. I started with Giant Steps. so, you know, that’s my goal for every record. It’s kind of like a cool challenge, you know, it’s like paying tribute to the jazz Masters, but I think about it like I did a contra fact over Confirmation by Charlie Parker,
or even moments notice by John Coltrane, it’s like I meditate on the tune a lot, and then I think about how to pay tribute and respect what they did harmonically, but give it the Pete Rodriguez flavor and hope that they like what I did.
Because I’m, I look at it this way, these people, wherever they’re in heaven, they want to hear something different. They just don’t want to hear what they did. Right. You know, it’s like when I go to [01:27:00] heaven, I want Coltrane to say, Hey, man. I like what you did with my changes of moments. Notice, man, you know,
the new melody.
JOHN SNELL: right? Passing the
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I like that melody that you gave the tennis player and it to yourself instead of him saying, oh, good job man, playing the same stuff as me. You know what I’m saying?
JOHN SNELL: absolutely. Taking the tune and moving it forward.
That’s, uh, well, I can’t wait. So you said June, 2026, you said
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yes. June 27th. I don’t have a date yet.
Um, but, uh, I, I, you know, we’ll, we’ll stay in touch and then
JOHN SNELL: Stay in touch and I’ll, you know, I always plug it in the, uh, in the news section of the podcast, let folks know it’s
available and link to it and all that stuff.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: And there’s also videos that I’ll send you of the, of the new recording.
and, and, and it’s crazy like, you know, you’re like, you’re thinking of man video’s so expensive, but it’s, the videographer was amazing.
He had cameras in front of every single person.
The editing is, is just beautiful. and just [01:28:00] to document that, you know, ’cause when you see the videos, you know, no one edits their solos on my record. So what you hear is either first or second take. I tried to edit a long time ago on a recording or on a solo, and it just kept on getting worse.
JOHN SNELL: Yeah, that, that, that process has always fascinated me with improvisation. ’cause it’s like, when do you know it’s right? You know? It’s improvised and if you keep going in and punching in a note or a phrase or something, it’s,
yeah,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I try to fix it and it just keeps on getting worse ’cause my brain gets in the way.
And now I’m not thinking about what’s happening in the moment with the whole band.
I only edit melodies like, and I have to, you know, pretty much the, on my new record, there’s one tune. The first tune is really hard. it’s crazy, it’s not high. I don’t even think it goes above the staff. But what I wrote is like a f finger twister. I mean, it was even hard for my tenor player. So, you know, if this is hard for a tenor player, it’s hard for trumpet
and I am [01:29:00] almost memorized it. I practiced it at home where I nailed it, and I always try to test myself if I can play this three to five times without messing up. I’ll most likely have it in the studios because, you know, once, once they say record, the level of stress raises and the chances of you making this little stupid mistake that you never made before is sometimes it just happens.
And that’s the one tune that the tenor player and me had to edit. And you know, it’s like, but it was a melody, if not
no solos.
So, you know, um, and you notice, like if you listen to old records of Miles Davis or even and Freddie Hubbard where they’ve crack a note, it is never bothered me when they’ve cracked a note.
JOHN SNELL: No, no. it’s fascinating. I was, you know, I was just thinking about that the other day. same thing. I was listening to Miles Davis and like the, I forgot what album it was. but the tenor. Comes in wrong. You know, like they [01:30:00] don’t come in together. No, it doesn’t matter. Like,
cause the music and the, like we were talking about before, the energy, every, you know, every single player on that album comes with such energy.
You just get swept away. It doesn’t, you know?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, and, and a lot of times the crack note has more soul, you
know? I but yet, if we crack a note, oh, oh, I got, but now I don’t really care if
I crack a note. I’m like, what is what it is? You know,
No. Oh,
no.
JOHN SNELL: of those sets.
Right.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Hey, this is the new member of the family.
JOHN SNELL: all right. We got the second pet. Who’s this
PETE RODRIGUEZ: This is BB. She was, you remember those floods this summer in Texas?
She was rescued from the floods.
JOHN SNELL: bless her heart.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: It was her and like maybe six other brothers and sisters.
JOHN SNELL: Oh man.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: she’s a, she’s not that big. She’s like,
JOHN SNELL: Yeah. Little. Uh,
lapdog. Little lapdog. Well, hi [01:31:00] B. Oh my gosh. I love it. Well, you know, I can’t believe Pete, I mean, I could talk to you all day.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Oh yeah, man.
JOHN SNELL: I mean, so much experience and you do so many different things. We’ll, we’ll have to have you back on at some point.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, man. Love to man.
JOHN SNELL: dig more into your, the salsa history and the legends you played with. I mean, we mentioned a little, a few of them. so we have, uh, Pete Rodriguez Music, right? It’s website.
Uh, best way for people to find out what you’re doing and when the new album’s gonna come out, et cetera.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. Also Instagram,
and you know, I always tell people, man, you leave me a direct message, I’m gonna answer back. You know, I’ll get people from, you know, Columbia, Venezuela asking me about my pop father or who I’ve studied with, and I love sharing. You know, the more I can explain the things that I know, the better I’ll be at even doing it for myself.
You know? And there’s, there’s people that can’t afford these lessons, you know? And, and a lot of people that I study with are not here anymore with us, you know? [01:32:00] So I feel like I’m one of the few cats, especially no, in the Latin scene that study with Ano, Gil Johnson, Laurie Frank, Victor, pa, you know, got to hear, uh. mauri Andre.
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: And that’s, you know what I’m saying, that I can talk to students about, you know, all this. ’cause you’re not, people think, oh, he’s just a jazz salsa Trump player, so he only knows this stuff. But, you know, when I approached the trumpet, it’s, I almost feel like it’s more universal.
Like
last summer I did a clinic in Costa Rica and you know, this cat, this is a classical cat. Uh, was it John Friedrich? Is his name. So he was there given a clinic it was amazing. Like, we warm up, very similar, it’s like he does, um, chitz, it just sounds different.
His equipment’s different. I do a little bit more bending than him, [01:33:00] but it was kind of cool that we could connect from two different worlds. It’s like, oh, Pete, I like what you’re doing here. Oh, I like what you’re doing here. And I got, I
kind of, it’s like a big, trumpet community.
JOHN SNELL: Well, yeah. Well, I had that conversation with Dave Douglas a few episodes back about labels, and we try to put things into these, like, you know, different containers and it’s really, we’re all in the pool together, you know, there’s more, we have so much more in common than what separates us.
And so when we say, oh, he’s a lead player, or he’s a, she’s a jazz player, or they’re a orchestral, classical, legit player, whatever, you know, what does that even mean? we’re all trumpet players. The physics are the same. The application may be a little bit different in the style, but,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. Yeah.
JOHN SNELL: and then, and then even then nowadays with the kind of conglomeration of styles and stuff like, yeah, you, you make music.
It’s
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Yeah. You know, it’s just, it’s just a different approach, I guess,
when we play, you know, it’s like, I mean, I’m a huge fan of Dave.
He, his band’s one of the baddest bands I heard [01:34:00] in New York at one point at the Vanguard. I
was,
JOHN SNELL: man. Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: I was like, holy shit. I mean, the band was so, so tight. I really love him as a composer and I like the fact that, you know, he has a different tone.
It’s like, it’s totally different. His approach, his arre, how he writes, he’s not trying to sound like anyone else, which, that’s what this is all about when
we’re playing jazz. You know?
JOHN SNELL: we have our own fingerprint, right?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah, like I remember I was at a jam session once and I, I heard this trumpet player playing and I couldn’t see who it was.
I’m like, wow, Roy sounds kind of off. It was kind of weird. It was like a weak Roy Hargrove, but it wasn’t Roy. It was trying to imitate Roy. but the crazy thing, then Roy showed up to the jam,
JOHN SNELL: no, I was gonna say, that’ll be my next album. The A Weak right. Hargrove.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: you know, and it was like, once you
heard him play, you’re like, oh, that’s, you know,
but the, you know, it was a young student and
I [01:35:00] guess that person was trying to figure out, and that’s hopefully he figured it out and his, his found his own voice,
JOHN SNELL: well, yeah, like we all do, like we, you know, young people are impressionable and they latch on to certain, styles and influences and then hopefully through that they end up finding their voice.
Uh, so well before your parrot, uh, eat your shirt, um, I just wanna plug one more time.
So pete rodriguez music.com and on Instagram is P rodriguez Music, right?
Uh, and we’ll have, we’ll have links to all of that down in the description and on the show notes. So be easy for folks to find you. Pete. Absolute. Pleasure and honor, and thank you so much for just your honesty and transparency of your life and career.
I mean, that’s what this podcast is about. You know, hearing real stories from real people doing it, you know, the, the boots on the ground. and I know a lot of those stories aren’t easy to share. and, uh, it’s so meaningful that you, um, you know, entrusted the us uh, with those stories. Before I let you go, I leave you with one last question, [01:36:00] and if you could leave our listeners with your best piece of advice, and it could be about anything, it doesn’t have to be about trumpet or buzzing or anything like that.
What would that be?
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Enjoy life. Surround yourself. I had a triathlon coach tell me this once. She said, surround yourself around energy givers, not energy takers. Learn how to walk away from a relationship that is toxic. Not only, you know, if you have a girlfriend or boyfriend, just friends, life is too short and too beautiful. I don’t have parents that are alive anymore. You know, my mom died two years ago and it, I’m trying to still get used to like not having living parents.
It’s kind of painful. I think last week I, I had a dream that mommy was alive and when I woke up it was just like, it just terrible,
JOHN SNELL: Reliving that all again. Yeah. That pain. Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah. [01:37:00] Um, you know, a lot of us, we get so involved with us musicians like, okay, when’s the next gig? When’s the next recording? How can I get this gig to, to buy this, to pay rent?
You know? And a lot of times I didn’t enjoy life ’cause I was always so stressed out. Like, when I was doing that live recording with Tito Puente that won two Grammys, while I was doing that recording, I was already thinking about when’s the next gig next week. And a lot of times I wasn’t in the moment what I, I guess for the younger people, even older people, it’s like living in the moment and enjoying life,
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: you know, and, and, and taking care of yourself mentally.
Meditate, pray, go on beautiful hikes, exercise, you know, this nightlife is hard on the body,
JOHN SNELL: Mm-hmm.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: you know what I’m saying? It’s like I remember coming home at five, six in the morning, you know, and then having to go teach somewhere at nine o’clock in the morning. [01:38:00] You know, it’s like finding those moments and just going for a beautiful walk and, and just like I call Carlos Santano and Carlo, I, you see this?
I love you man. Thank you for getting me in touch. With John. And a lot of times we talk about trumpet, but also about life. You know, the politics that are happening now in our country, which I’m not gonna get into. we are in a place where now where sometimes I leave my house and I’m a little bit scared to go to a Home Depot or, or something like that, that maybe somebody, something will happen with me, you know, to me.
But I guess the main thing is just to really think about how great life
is that we can breathe. That we can walk, be kind.
’cause you know, somebody might live in a million dollar home, but they could be so depressed, waving, say like, I’m an extrovert, I say hi to everybody. I mean, I love talking to [01:39:00] strangers.
Like, to me it’s extremely easy.
And sometimes it backfires ’cause some people are, are introverts. So I’ve had to learn how
JOHN SNELL: Yeah. Not everyone’s like that,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah, no, no, dude. I like,
JOHN SNELL: spreading joy,
sharing
PETE RODRIGUEZ: yeah, spreading joy. And I think, you know, my mission is to do my music and hopefully I can, touch other people, you know, with my music, with my trumpet playing, you know, it’s like, just be kind man.
We just don’t know what people are going through,
you know what I’m saying? It’s just like, whenever I see homeless people, man, I, I try to have either a power bar in a car or a couple of dollars and it’s say, Hey, I don’t have money, but I can give you a power bar. ’cause we don’t know that person.
He or she, they were a high school student at one point. They could have gone to college, they could be a lawyer,
they could be anything. And maybe kids got into a car crash and they died, wife passed away, father, and they didn’t have the, the skills to [01:40:00] manage. That stress
JOHN SNELL: Yeah.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: and then they fell into depression, and now they’re, they’re homeless on the street.
Because I’ve had some conversations, so some homeless people that are, oh, okay, this person’s read a book. This person’s written a paper. What’s going on?
You know? and I learned that from my dad. he treated everybody, a serious drug user in the Bronx on the street. He would talk to them with the same amount of respect and love looking them in the eye, Hey, how are you doing?
JOHN SNELL: Yeah. Uh, well, Pete, thank you. And amazing advice. I mean, the whole episode was full of it and, uh, really going deeper. I mean, we, this is a trumpet podcast and I joke about arguing about heavy valve caps and valve oil, but, really you
reached the, you know, the heart of what we want to do here is, spreading the word and realizing there’s more, a lot more in common, than what separates us, and not just at an instrument [01:41:00] level.
So thank you so much, Pete and
Poncho for joining us, and absolutely love it. First parrot on the podcast,
PETE RODRIGUEZ: Look at that.
JOHN SNELL: absolute honor having you on. Thank you so much.
PETE RODRIGUEZ: here, brother.
JOHN SNELL: Well, a huge thank you to Pete. what an amazing interview. and I thanked him. In person, at least virtually, uh, which I don’t always do, you know, obviously thanking guests for their time and whatnot. But, uh, for his honesty, his transparency, you know, you could just see the, the raw emotions of the horrible things that Pete has had to go through in his life and the army and, the racism, the, I mean, it was torture.
Uh, the things he had to go through, persevere through. And, there’s a, a bigger picture out there and music trumpet playing when it seems so, I don’t know, simple. It’s a little thing we play. but it deep down is. What we do, we connect, we communicate, [01:42:00] we put something through our bell that will hopefully, in some little way make the world a better place and, uh, uh, to see that Pete is doing that when so many other people would give in or give up, or even worse, as he alluded to at a few times in the conversation.
absolutely awe inspiring. What Pete does with his life and his beautiful family and his pets, I, I’ve mentioned a few times if you, if you watch the YouTube, uh, you get to see his parrot, his dogs make an appearance. and it’s, it’s so heartwarming to know he is surrounded by love and he is created that life for himself, and makes amazing music.
Check out his album. I’m Pete Rodriguez, volume one, and he said volume two is, well, on its way. In fact, he has already recorded doing that two for one at the, the studio. so we will, anxiously await for that release and we’ll certainly let you know, uh, when. Volume two hits the Airwaves or the Spotifys, [01:43:00] um, pete rodriguez music.com is his website.
p Rodriguez music is his Instagram handle. We’ll have links to all of those so you can follow Pete and, uh, all the places he’s playing. Uh, I also wanna take a moment to give a special shout out to my dear friend Carlos Centeno. Carlos and I were classmates back at Citrus College, for just a semester.
and for those of you who heard my interview a few episodes back, uh, you know, just. Talk about all the experiences I had at Citrus College, and Carlos was a big part of those. And even though it was, what, three or four months of our life, we’ve still been lifelong friends and keep in touch with each other, support each other.
And Pete is here today because of Carlos. Carlos has been, uh, uh, persistently, suggesting Pete, uh, for a long time now. And, uh, I’m so glad I finally connected to him. I’m in. Actually an introvert. And so reaching out to people I don’t know, is not the easiest thing for [01:44:00] me. And honestly, I just kept putting it off and putting it off and putting it off and, you know, finally, uh, Carlos said, John, you have to have feet on.
And I’m so glad. I got over myself and reached out to Pete because this interview wouldn’t have happened. and if it wasn’t for Carlos’s, making the connection and his kind persistence. So Carlos, I owe you one buddy. thank you so much for, having Pete on the podcast. Thank you for listening. We got some wonderful guests coming up.
I’ve mentioned Kate Moore, Rick Braun. I have, uh, we’re gonna do a follow up with Paul Literal Hollywood Paul of the, uh, uptown Horns, who just released, uh, an album, Imogene Whitehead, fabulous player in the uk, is gonna be interviewed pretty soon, so we’re gonna keep ’em rolling, and I’ve gotten a few suggestions.
Thank you so much for some of you, uh, who’ve emailed in. I really mean it. Uh, I can’t keep all of the trumpet players on my radar, so, it means a lot when you send me your suggestions. With that being said, hope to see you in [01:45:00] North Carolina. Hope to see you in Japan. And until next time, let’s go out and make some music.
