When Pedro Pastrana arrived in the Bay Area in 2017, it didn’t take him long to become part of the vibrant, multicultural music community.
A virtuoso on the cuatro, the national instrument of Puerto Rico that he learned growing up there, Pastrana went to college in Indiana, lived in New York, and has traveled to Costa Rica, Europe and India, jamming and performing with musicians rooted in their own cultural traditions.
His world travels have fueled his curiosity and creative drive to introduce and assimilate the cuatro into the music of other cultures, resulting in a fresh and unexpected fusion of styles, which are reflected in his original compositions and at live performances. “It took me some time to actually find musicians willing to come on this crazy journey with me, playing my music,” he says.
But just as he put together a band, COVID shut everything down. In September, the 34-year-old Pastrana moved from San Francisco’s Portola district to Oakland in search of cheaper rent, and he has recently started to record music in his new home.
I chatted with Pastrana recently by phone about what led him to play the cuatro; how he ended up in the Bay Area; and how he is dealing with his life and career in these turbulent times. Our conversation has been edited and condensed.
The Frisc: How did you come to play the cuatro?
Pedro Pastrana: Ever since I was a little kid, I was inclined to music and my mom picked that up. We would go to shows or weddings and I would be right next to the musicians, just looking at them.
So when I was about nine, she saw an ad in the newspaper for the Dr. Francisco López Cruz Foundation, offering courses for kids. The school just offered cuatro at that time, and at that point I just wanted to learn any instrument, but little did I know that it would be my instrument of choice.
How would you describe the sound?
It sounds like a mix between the mandolin and the guitar. It has double strings that are tuned in octaves, similar to the mandolin, but it’s not as high or low in pitch as a guitar. It is somewhere in between, which makes it very melodic. You can play really nice grooves on the low end, especially in Latin music for montunos and folk music without interfering with what the bass or the guitar is doing, and then play a really nice melody without sounding too high-pitched.
Why did you come to the United States?
I moved to the U.S. in 2009 because I got a scholarship at Purdue University in Indiana. It was very interesting to hear a different type of music and to try to understand it from the perspective of a Puerto Rican folk cuatro player, and ask myself, “How would that sound and would it make sense to play it on my instrument?” And that’s how I’ve approached every style of music.
I was going through an identity crisis: ‘Oh, I’m a Puerto Rican cuatro player, what will people think if I’m not playing Puerto Rican music?’ The simple answer is, I play what I like.
How did you end up in San Francisco?
I was living in New York and I felt like I needed a change. I had been playing a lot with different people, and was also starting to find out my inner voice as a composer. I got the idea to do a road trip, so I sold everything, packed my cuatro and a few guitars in the back seat, drove across the country, and ended up in San Francisco. Moving here has given me more confidence, because I started playing with great musicians like John Santos, Zakir Hussain, Orestes Vilató, who is a legend in the Latin music community, and Karl Perazzo, the percussionist from Santana. Playing with all these people has made me feel like I am part of that community.
What kinds of music do you play?
At one point I was going through an identity crisis in the sense of, “Oh, I’m a Puerto Rican cuatro player — what will people think if I’m not playing Puerto Rican music?” So the simple answer is I play what I like. If I hear something and it captures my attention, that’s what I want to play, and that gives me the opportunity to listen to other voices and other music.
I have been out of Puerto Rico for many years and speak English, but I still have my folk accent, and that stays with my music. So everything I am doing is through a folk lens, and through that lens I do jazz and fusion, and I also write my own music.
Were you originally playing just jíbaro music?
When you start playing the cuatro, it being so ingrained in folk music, you basically are expected to only play jíbaro or folk music — music from the mountains. But when I moved out of Puerto Rico and started playing with different people, none of them knew jibaro music, so my function was not to force them to play folk music, but to make myself fit into their music. I ended up playing everything from pop to R&B to jazz to soul with just this tiny folk instrument.
How has the pandemic affected your career?
I was putting together a band so that we could play gigs around town and build the confidence to record, and those were the shows I was looking forward to the most. I have been writing and crafting out my ideas for the past two or three years, but it took me some time to actually find musicians willing to come on this crazy journey with me, playing my music.
The first show of the year with the band was in January, and we played at the Bird & Beckett in February. It was a great gig with great exposure. We had another show scheduled in mid-March at the Red Poppy Art House, and that’s when everything started to go south.
I had a bunch of shows for the first half of the year that I had to cancel. Ever since then, I have been trying to get adjusted to not being able to play with or see the people I want to see, and it has been difficult.
What is the instrumentation in the band and what kind of music were you playing?
Drums, bass, saxophone, and cuatro — I wanted to make it seem at a glance like it was a traditional jazz quartet. But then when we start playing, it is actually slightly different than what you would expect. I am trying to cover different realms of music — fusion and a little bit of traditional music, but with a different harmony or instrumentation.
Tell me about the record you are making.
It is all original music with arrangements that I worked on with different musicians. It’s not all traditional folk music or all salsa or all bomba. It’s a mix of what I have learned and have done over the past years, so it will jump from rock to Latin jazz to everything in between.
Have you discovered and been listening to any new music during the pandemic?
Yes, all the time. I found Jonathan Scales and Fourchestra. He is a steel pan player and a fusion composer, and like me, he is playing it outside of its context. The other group I have been listening to is called House of Waters. It’s another fusion band with bass, drums, and dulcimer. And that’s what I like — music that is kind of different.
With so many clubs closed and closing — what are you thinking about in terms of your life as a professional musician and your future?
I try not to think too much about it, because right now we are really going through a tough time. Not only for musicians, but for everyone. I think this is going to emphasize what has already been the trend in music anyway, which is that you have to have an online presence no matter what, because musicians want to expose their voices, and with not being able to play live, you need to find some other way.
What else are you doing with your time?
Besides making my room more production-ready so that I can record my own stuff, I am also learning about production. My plan was to do the recording, and now with the help of some friends I am starting to get the ball rolling. I am just trying to stay sane, and keep myself creatively productive during this time.