Stu Martin (drummer)


Stuart Victor Martin was an American jazz drummer.

Career

Martin was a professional musician by the age of sixteen when he played drums for the big bands of Count Basie, Jimmy Dorsey, Les and Larry Elgart, Duke Ellington, Maynard Ferguson, Quincy Jones, and Billy May. In the 1960s he worked with Gary Burton, Donald Byrd, Curtis Fuller, Herbie Hancock, Oliver Nelson, Sonny Rollins, Steve Swallow, and Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. He was a member of a band in West Germany that consisted of Lee Konitz, Albert Mangelsdorff, and Attila Zoller and in a band with Rolf Kuhn and Joachim Kuhn. Martin was a member of The Trio with Barre Phillips and John Surman, then as a member with Charlie Mariano. In the 1970s he recorded with Carla Bley, Slide Hampton, and John McLaughlin.
In 1975, the Trio went to Paris to do a collaborative project with the Paris Opera orchestra and the Carolyn Carlson Dance Company. After this project, he continued to play with the Trio and also toured with the rock band New York Gong.
Martin died at the age of 42 in Paris as the result of a heart attack. He’s survived by his son Zeke Martin

Discography

As leader

Alors with Barre Phillips, Michel Portal, John Surman Where Fortune Smiles with John McLaughlin Conflagration, The Trio with Phillips and Surman Live at Woodstock Town Hall with John Surman Mountainscapes with Barre Phillips
  • ''Sunrise''

As sideman

With Curtis FullerBoss of the Soul-Stream Trombone The Magnificent Trombone of Curtis Fuller
With Quincy JonesI Dig Dancers Newport '61 The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones: Live! The Quintessence
With Sonny RollinsAll the Things You Are The Standard Sonny Rollins
With Tomasz Stańko, Tomasz SzukalskiDouble Concerto for Five Soloists and Orchestra
With Tomasz Stańko, Janusz StefańskiFish Face
With others