Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer.

Early life

Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. His father was Carmen "Mickey" Azzara, who died in 1990, and his mother was Jean, originally named Orlando, who died in 1989. Martino first learned about jazz through his father, who sang in local clubs and studied guitar for a short time.

Career

Martino studied with a well-known jazz teacher named Dennis Sandole. In Sandole's studio, he met other students, including John Coltrane, James Moody, McCoy Tyner, and others. Martino began playing professionally at age 15 after moving to New York City. He lived for a time with Les Paul and played at jazz clubs such as Smalls Paradise. Later, Martino moved into a suite at the President Hotel on 48th Street. He played at Smalls for six months each year and performed during summers at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Martino played and recorded early in his career with musicians such as Lloyd Price, Willis Jackson, and Eric Kloss. He also worked with jazz organists, including Charles Earland, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Trudy Pitts, Jimmy Smith, Gene Ludwig, Ray Allen (Raymond Chenot), and Joey DeFrancesco.

In 1980, Martino suffered from a serious brain condition that caused a "near-fatal seizure." The surgery to treat it removed part of his brain and left him with amnesia, meaning he could not remember his career or how to play the instrument that made him successful. Martino said he had no memory after the surgery and had to learn to focus on the present instead of the past or future. He had to re-learn how to play the guitar completely.

In 2004, Martino was chosen as Guitar Player of the Year in the Down Beat magazine Readers' Poll. In 2006, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab reissued his album East! on Ultradisc UHR SACD.

In 2017, Martino created a series of educational videos titled A Study of the Opposites and How They Manifest on the Guitar.

Martino's recording career included more than 150 releases across multiple major jazz labels, such as Prestige, Blue Note, Muse Records, and HighNote Records. His work includes a variety of musical styles, such as soul-jazz organ trio performances, fusion experimentation, and mainstream recordings made after his recovery.

Musical style

Martino was influenced by several guitarists, including Les Paul, Johnny Smith, Hank Garland, Joe Pass, and especially Wes Montgomery. He was also influenced, to a lesser degree, by Jim Hall, Mundell Lowe, and Barry Galbraith.

Martino said, "There are parts of an instrument’s design that provide ongoing useful information. For the guitar, there are two. The first is the major third interval, and the second is the minor third interval. When we look at how these intervals repeat, they seem to act like automatic tools."

Martino’s guitar playing includes chromatic notes that are not tied to a specific IIm7 chord, even in the examples he provides in his books and videos. On his bulletin board, he explained that he developed the system mainly to describe his own style, not as a method for composing music. In his own words, "Although some people have called my recorded solos 'modal,' I have never worked that way. I have always relied on my own musical intuition, rather than following patterns based on scales."

Legacy

Jazz music educator Wolf Marshall stated that Martino is "a living legend, a national treasure, and an inspiration to musicians and music lovers of all kinds."

Personal life

Martino was married to Ayako Asahi Martino. They met in Tokyo, Japan, in 1995. Because of a long-term breathing problem, he stopped performing in 2018. He passed away on November 1, 2021, at the age of 77.

Awards and honors

• 1995 Mellon Jazz Festival honored during the event
• 1996 Philadelphia Alliance Walk of Fame Award received
• 1997 National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Songs from the Heart Award received
• 2002 Grammy Award nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Live at Yoshi's, and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo on "All Blues"
• 2002 National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences 2nd Annual Heroes Award received
• 2003 Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Think Tank, and Best Jazz Instrumental Solo on "Africa"
• 2004 Named Guitar Player of the Year by DownBeat Magazine's 2004 Readers' Poll
• 2016 Presented with the Jazz Legacy Award by Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes and his wife, Sheryl Lee Ralph-Hughes

Discography

• El Hombre (Prestige, 1967)
• Strings! (Prestige, 1967)
• East! (Prestige, 1968)
• Baiyina (The Clear Evidence) (Prestige, 1968)
• Desperado (Prestige, 1970)
• The Visit! (Cobblestone, 1972)
• Pat Martino/Live! (Muse, 1974)
• Consciousness (Muse, 1975)
• Starbright (Warner Bros., 1976)
• We'll Be Together Again (Muse, 1976)
• Joyous Lake (Warner Bros., 1977)
• Exit (Muse, 1977)
• The Return (Muse, 1987)
• Interchange (Muse, 1994)
• The Maker (Paddle Wheel [Japan], 1995)
• Nightwings (Muse, 1996)
• All Sides Now (Blue Note, 1997)
• Stone Blue (Blue Note, 1998)
• Live at Yoshi's (Blue Note, 2001)
• Think Tank (Blue Note, 2003)
• Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery (Blue Note, 2006)
• Undeniable: Live at Blues Alley (HighNote, 2011)
• Alone Together (HighNote, 2012)
• We Are Together Again (Warner Music Japan, 2013)
• Young Guns (HighNote, 2014)
• Nexus (HighNote, 2015)
• Formidable (HighNote, 2017)

• The First Milestone (Milestone, 2000)
• The Real Thing (HighNote, 2015)

• Grease 'n' Gravy (Prestige, 1963)
• The Good Life (Prestige, 1963)
• Jackson's Action! (Prestige, 1964)
• Boss Shoutin' (Prestige, 1964)
• More Gravy (Prestige, 1964)
• Live! Action (Prestige, 1965)
• Soul Night/Live! (Prestige, 1966)
• Tell It… (Prestige, 1967)
• Headed and Gutted (Muse, 1974)
• Bar Wars Bar Wars (Muse, 1978)
• Single Action (Muse, 1980)
• Nothing Butt… (Muse, 1983)

• Introducing Eric Kloss (Prestige, 1965)
• Life Force (Prestige, 1968)
• Sky Shadows (Prestige, 1968)
• Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)
• One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)

• Walk on By (Prestige, 1966)
• Hallelujah Time! (Prestige, 1967)
• The Midnight Sun (Prestige, 1968)
• Soul Circle (Prestige, 1968)
• I Got a Woman (Prestige, 1969)
• Steppin' Out (Prestige, 1969)

With Charles McPherson

• From This Moment On! (Prestige, 1968)
• Horizons (Prestige, 1969)

• Holiday Soul (Prestige, 1965)
• Four Dimensions (Prestige, 1967)
• Boppin' & Burnin' (Prestige, 1968)
• Opus De Don (Prestige, 1968)
• Funk You! (Prestige, 1968)
• Oh Happy Day (Prestige, 1969)
• These Are Soulful Days (Muse, 1974)

• Introducing the Fabulous Trudy Pitts (Prestige, 1967)
• These Blues of Mine (Prestige, 1967)

• Peter Block, Ustad Habib Khan, Ilya Rayzman and Zakir Hussain, Fire Dance (Mythos, 1997)
• Royce Campbell, Six by Six (Paddle Wheel [Japan], 1994)
• Cyrus Chestnut, A Charlie Brown Christmas (Atlantic, 2000)
• Stanley Clarke, Children of Forever (Polydor, 1973)
• Joey DeFrancesco, Ballads and Blues (Concord, 2002)
• Charles Earland Tribute Band, Keepers of the Flame (HighNote, 2002) with Joey DeFrancesco
• Gil Goldstein, Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, Herbie Mann, John Patitucci, Disney Adventures in Jazz (Walt Disney [UK], 2001)
• John Handy, New View (Columbia, 1967)
• Jimmy Heath, The Time and the Place (Landmark, 1994)
• Woody Herman, The Raven Speaks (Fantasy, 1972)
• Richard "Groove" Holmes, Get Up & Get It! (Prestige, 1967)
• Barry Miles, White Heat (Mainstream, 1971)
• The Philadelphia Experiment (Rope-a-Dope, 2001)
• Lee Ritenour, 6 String Theory (Concord, 2010)
• Michael Sagmeister, Conversation (Acoustic Music, 2000)
• Sonny Stitt, Night Letter (Prestige, 1969)

Other sources

• Marshall, Wolf (Winter 1991) Pat Martino. Guitar Extra Volume 1 No. 4.
• Marshall, Wolf (November 2005) Pat Martino: Legend, Treasure, Inspiration. Vintage Guitar Magazine.