Jen Martinez-Bre

Jen Martinez-Bre is a Peruvian/Cuban-American percussionist, disability advocate, and clinician currently based in South Florida.

Born in Miami, Jen seeks to pay homage to her Cuban and Peruvian roots along with the local melting pot of sounds around her. Jen was surrounded by the sounds of everything from Motown, to salsa, to folkloric Afro-Peruvian music since she was in diapers. 

“The Baroness of Latin Jazz”, as dubbed by Percussive Notes editor Gloria Yehilevsky, her performance style and initiatives have been commended by organizations such as South Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, the Broward County Cultural Division, the Gold Coast Jazz Society and the Percussive Arts Society in the form of scholarships and grants to continue her pursuits.

Jen has been on the bandstand with and/or been mentored by jazz luminaries such as Stefon Harris, Bria Skonberg, Rodolfo Zuniga, Hector Neciosup, Valery Ponomarev - as well as NEA Jazz Masters Dee Dee Bridgewater and Regina Carter. 

After a painful flare caused by her spine condition mid-way into her college studies, Jen began researching about her condition and other chronic illnesses and disabilities only to find that there is very little help and acknowledgement of these conditions found outside of the general chronic illness/chronic pain and/or disabled community, and the handful of specialists of these conditions worldwide. With this depressing statistic at hand, Jen seeks to bring more awareness of disabled and chronically ill lives through her music - and at any opportunity she can.
 

Adjacent to her musicianship and advocacy, Jen is no stranger to the nonprofit world. Previously, Jen served as a committee member for the Accessibility Committee for the Percussive Arts Society’s Diversity Alliance, as well as serving as Treasurer for Modern Marimba. During her term as Treasurer, in March 2021, Jen curated the first (and only) women in jazz vibraphone festival, “VibeFest”. Jen also curated the first virtual showcase of singing percussionists, “Mallets+Voice Fest” in May 2021. 
 

Since the pandemic, Jen also has been involved with The Vibraphone Project, starting as an Affiliate Member and currently serving as a Board Member. With The Vibraphone Project, Jen has served as one of the judges in the Jazz category for their Spring VibeFest of May 2025, while being a key member of their Call for Scores, Commissions, and Event/Festival committees.