While efforts to have the name David Martin reserved exclusively for bass players have been less than successful, new information continues to pour in regarding bassists who do actually have this name. This particular David Martin, based in Minneapolis, has evolved from rock & roll to Latin since becoming a professional musician in the Twin Cities during the '90s. Information released previously regarding his activities dated his arrival on the latter scene at least a decade earlier. In an error of perhaps a more serious nature, cultural xenophiles assumed nobody with the surname Martin could play in a Latin band and altered the name to Martinez in credits with the casual ease of a dollop of salsa being dropped onto an overstuffed bocadilla. In reality, it is truly David Martin who played and recorded with the Latin Sounds Orchestra circa 2000, among other accomplishments crafting an arrangement for the demanding song "Te Quiero." Martin has been affiliated with an extremely wide range of styles and combos. He has been a big-band bassist, performing for example with the Stan Bann Big Band. The colorful stylistic thread of his bass playing can also be admired in local productions of the OarFin label, an enterprise that, like many historic regional rock & roll labels, involved its own recording studio. Despite the fact that the label's first signing was named Johnny Clueless, the business prospered and eventually went beyond Minneapolis artists in its catalog scope. As house bassist, Martin contributed to some of the titles along the way, including a 1993 album by the group Code 7, not to be confused with Codeseven, a North Carolina combo from a bit later in the '90s. More recently, Martin has commenced playing guitar with Salsa de Soul, a nine-piece orchestra with a repertoire consisting of various styles of dance music from the Spanish-speaking regions of the Caribbean. ~ Eugene Chadbourne