Aurelio Martinez, Ambassador of Garifuna Music, has passed away: NPR

Honduras folk musician Aurelio Martínez has passed away. The 55-year-old was a respected supporter of Central American culture known as Garifuna. According to his spokesman, Martinez and 11 others died Monday in a plane crash crash shortly after taking off from Roatan on Honduras Island.

Martinez grew up in a remote area in northern Honduras. He moved to the capital of the province of Latiba to study music, and eventually launched his performance career with Belize musician Andy Palacio. The musical tradition they worked in, Garifuna, a mixture of West Africa, Indigenous peoples and other cultures, dates back to the 17th century along the Caribbean coast of Central America.

In 2005, Martinez took a break from music and became the first Afro Honsuran to be elected to the National Congress of the country. However, in 2008, after Palacio unexpectedly passed away at the age of 48, the artist decided to resume his music career full-time. His return to music included an international tour, a songwriting workshop for Garifna’s youths, and an appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series in 2015.