Aurelio Martínez

2008/2009 Music Protégé

First Impressions

An Interview with Aurelio Martínez Early in the Mentorship

How was your meeting with Youssou N’Dour?

Being a finalist in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative I went to Senegal as one of the three chosen candidates. Going to Africa was a dream for me, and also for Andy Palacio (1960-2008), my friend and master in the Garifuna music I represent. When I found out that Youssou N’Dour was to be my mentor I was thrilled. I’ve followed his career, and the careers of Salif Keita from Mali and Baaba Maal from Senegal. I really admire Youssou N’Dour – he’s an artist of peace whose voice and musical richness are unique, and I’ve always felt very close to his political and human struggles. I was expecting to meet a solemn, quiet person – instead I found someone joyful, very open, a man with a big heart – a kind of King of Senegal!

What are you expecting from your work together?

It’s an incredible opportunity for my career. Depending on our timetables, we’re due to meet up again, in Senegal, to rehearse together and see if I can accompany him on a future tour in Europe and Africa. I can learn a lot from Youssou N’Dour’s composition work. Percussion is also a key element, and I’ll be listening extremely carefully to the djembé, the tama, the tabar – all these complex African drums. I’m planning to develop a new musical style out of our work together.

You are a singer, but you are also a member of the National Congress of Honduras, where you represent the Garifuna, a community with its origins in Africa. Does that make you feel closer to your mentor?

Yes, because I’m also going to try and show Youssou N’Dour the richness of my culture. Our work together may lead to greater world recognition of the Garifuna minority, which accounts for around 10 per cent of the population of Honduras but is currently under threat from land speculation.

Besides that, we can also benefit from our differences, because the African roots of the Garifuna are in Nigeria [the Yoruba ethnic group, while Senegal is mainly Peul and Wolof]. But thanks to artists like Youssou N’Dour the whole of Africa is linked, not divided. The Garifuna are descended from slaves shipwrecked on the island of St Vincent who intermingled with Arawak Indians. We arrived in Honduras two hundred years ago, and African traditions are still strong in our cooking, with fried bananas, for example, and fufu made from cassava. We also have our own religion, and our language, which is what I sing in. And of course our customs as free men and women.

Is music important in all that?

Very. I come from a family of musicians. My parents didn’t want me to go down that road, so I ran away from home in 1985, at the age of 14, and followed my vocation with the help of the elders. They taught me everything. Andy Palacio from Belize was a kind of a mentor for me. Youssou N’Dour will be another, and I’m going to devote myself 100% to the Rolex Arts Initiative, because there’s a lot more than just me involved here.