MARIO PEREIRA TRIO

Mario Pereira – Drummer | Educator | Afro-Caribbean Jazz Innovator

About this Event

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mario Pereira is one of the island’s most dynamic and versatile drummers, masterfully bridging the worlds of jazz, bomba, and Afro-Caribbean music. A graduate of the prestigious Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, Pereira has spent decades crafting a signature sound rooted in tradition but fiercely forward-thinking.

Mario’s career has taken him across stages with legends like Chick Corea, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Humberto Ramírez, and Nydia Caro. Whether holding down the rhythm in high-octane jazz ensembles or fueling folkloric performances with the deep pulse of barriles de bomba, his playing is both technically sharp and emotionally grounded.

He is a founding member of SM Quinteto and a key force behind Bomba Son del Batey, where his drumming fuses ancestral Puerto Rican rhythms with improvisational fire. Through these projects, Mario has helped shape a bold new voice in Latin jazz—earthy, modern, and unmistakably Caribbean.

Beyond the stage, Mario is a respected educator at the Guaynabo School of Fine Arts. He’s passionate about passing on the cultural and musical knowledge that defines Puerto Rico’s rhythmic identity, mentoring the next generation of percussionists and jazz musicians.

Whether in concert halls, jazz clubs, or bomba bateyes, Mario Pereira doesn’t just keep time—he tells stories. Powerful, percussive ones.

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