Martinez was formally educated in the Dominican Republic at the National Conservatory of Music and in New York City at Lehman College. Once he had established himself he worked for many years with Latin legend Mongo Santamaría, first to feature Martinez tunes on his albums. The bassist moved toward leading his own group, Conjunto Tipico Criollo, which cut several albums. He has also worked with the Buddha Latin Jazz All-Stars, Ray Barretto, Johnny Pacheco, Dave Valentin, Héctor Lavoe, and many other Afro-Cuban performers. Pop icons Paul Simon and David Byrne have tapped him for assistance with their own wimpy limp-Latin projects. Martinez continues to explore projects fusing sounds from Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean with American jazz. He should not be confused with Miami's disco producer of the same name. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi