After a Year with a Master
Aurelio Martínez Talks about His Year as a Rolex Protégé
How did you feel after your stay in Dakar?
It was a great experience, an experience of sharing, with a lot of musicians. In Dakar, spending time with Youssou N’Dour, I realized that music could take a performer a long way. I had almost finished my new album in Honduras, but I revised it, so to speak, in Dakar, taking Youssou’s advice. I had my sound engineer, Ivan Duran, with me, and we worked with Senegalese artists, musicians from the historic Orchestra Baobab and Youssou’s group, Super Étoile. In the future, I’d really like to record an album in Africa in the same fashion, and perhaps my mentor will be able to help me make this dream come true.
What have you learned from Youssou N’Dour?
I was able to get very close to the music he plays, and he gave me some useful tips on singing technique. Most of all, he showed me that I have what it takes to build a world-class career. Everywhere I went with him, I admired the way he’s continually evolving, and how he conveys feeling in his music – even if the audience rarely understands the language he sings in. This similarity with my work has given me the hope that I can attain the same goal, and help make Garifuna culture known throughout the world. Working with Youssou as my mentor has been reassuring, and helped me realize that there’s a market for this kind of music.
Did anything surprise you about Youssou N’Dour?
The power of his voice, his technique – the vitality of his music and his culture. And even more, the social role he plays as a musician, and his generosity.
Has your relationship with him changed your relationship with music?
Not really, because music has been with me from a very early age. Youssou taught me little variations. But he thinks I have to start by having confidence in my ability, before developing new singing techniques. And I think he’s right. Both of us are Afro-descendants, and somehow the feeling of being African is best expressed through rhythm.