https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/pat-martino-jazz-guitarist-dies-at-77/
Internationally beloved jazz guitarist Pat Martino has passed away at the age of 77. The news was confirmed by Martino’s longtime manager, Joe Donofrio.
Martino’s story is almost as impressive as his virtuosic playing. He began playing professionally at the age of 15, and eventually emerged as one of the great jazz-based guitarists of the 1960s. He was forcednto make a remarkable comeback after brain surgery in 1980 to correct an aneurysm that caused him to lose his memory and completely forget how to play.
He worked early on with groups led by Willis Jackson, Red Holloway, and a series of organists, including Don Patterson, Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Richard “Groove” Holmes, and Jimmy McGriff. After playing with John Handy (1966), he started leading his own bands and heading sessions for Prestige, Muse, and Warner Bros. that found him welcoming the influences of avant-garde jazz, rock, pop, and world music into his advanced hard bop style.
Internationally beloved jazz guitarist Pat Martino has passed away at the age of 77. The news was confirmed by Martino’s longtime manager, Joe Donofrio.
Martino’s story is almost as impressive as his virtuosic playing. He began playing professionally at the age of 15, and eventually emerged as one of the great jazz-based guitarists of the 1960s. He was forcednto make a remarkable comeback after brain surgery in 1980 to correct an aneurysm that caused him to lose his memory and completely forget how to play.
He worked early on with groups led by Willis Jackson, Red Holloway, and a series of organists, including Don Patterson, Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Richard “Groove” Holmes, and Jimmy McGriff. After playing with John Handy (1966), he started leading his own bands and heading sessions for Prestige, Muse, and Warner Bros. that found him welcoming the influences of avant-garde jazz, rock, pop, and world music into his advanced hard bop style.
