Stu Martin (drummer)

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. Stu 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.[2] Later in his career, he was one of the principal teachers at the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY. His unorthodox style of teaching made for wild scenes at times. If you didn't know what to do, he was merciless. If you were talented and sincere, he became your friend. A small man, he had an outsize personality and a sense of style that was flawless. Jack DeJohnette was a close friend. He asked Stu to tune his drums,as Stu had an unmatched sensitivity for tuning. His own kit consisted of a pair of bass drums tuned 1/2 step apart,floor toms pitched the same way, rack toms likewise, snare, and hi-hat. Other than the hi-hat, all of the cymbals were the China type placed upside down. His sound was utterly unique.

Stu had gone to Europe with Gary Burton's group, and decided not to come back to the US after the tour. Later he did, but he was more at home in Europe. He and his long term girlfriend Lee Norman, the American actor, had a son, Ezekiel Zachariah Martin, in 1972. EZ, as he was called, went on to become a fine drummer himself. 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 Gong.

Tragically, Stu died at the age of 40 in Paris, as the result of a drug reaction.