NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— New Orleans has always been home to some of the world’s best percussionists.

Calling New Orleans home now is Cuban-born Alexey Marti, one of the brightest lights on the music scene.

According to Marti, “What I do is something that I love, something that I’ve been training myself my entire life to do is play music, and bring happiness and good memories.”

Marti came to New Orleans 14 years ago and he’s been creating those memories every since. He also understands our city’s rhythmic connections to the Caribbean and Latin America.

“In New Orleans, you have what you call the Big Four,” Marti connects the beats of the Caribbean and NOLA saying, “We are all the same people.”

He’s also an unapologetic jazz musician with a supreme appreciation of that music, “Jazz is the most elevated, most sophisticated music of the 20th century. No doubt about it. You want to be sophisticated about the music, you have to learn jazz.”