Barry Martyn (born Barry Martyn Godfrey, 23 February 1941 – 17 July 2023) was an English

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

drummer, active principally on the New Orleans jazz revival circuit.

Biography

Barry Martyn Godfrey was born on 23 February 1941. He began on drums in 1955 and was leading his first band the following year. His first recordings were made in 1959. His first visit to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

was in 1961, where he studied under

Cie Frazier Josiah "Cie" Frazier (February 23, 1904 – January 10, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. Frazier studied drums under several New Orleans jazz musicians, including Louis Cottrell, Sr., James William “Red Happy” Bolton, and Face-O Wood ...

, and founded Mono Records. He toured Europe with many famed New Orleans jazz personnel, including George Lewis,

Albert Nicholas Albert Nicholas (May 27, 1900 – September 3, 1973) was an American jazz clarinet player, who was mostly based in Europe after 1953. Career Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown ...

, Louis Nelson,

Captain John Handy Captain John Handy (June 24, 1900 – January 12, 1971), was an American jazz alto saxophonist, who was part of the New Orleans jazz revival. Career Handy was born in Pass Christian, Mississippi, United States. He played clarinet in New Orleans ...

, and

Percy Humphrey Percy Gaston Humphrey (January 13, 1905 – July 22, 1995) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader in New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition to his band, Percy Humphrey and His Crescent City Joymakers, for more than thirty years he was lead ...

. He moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1972, and founded the Legends of Jazz, an ensemble which made several worldwide tours and recorded extensively. He returned to New Orleans in 1984, where he did work with

George Buck Sir George Buck (or Buc) (October 1622) was an English antiquarian, historian, scholar and author, who served as a Member of Parliament, government envoy to Queen Elizabeth I and Master of the Revels to King James I of England. He served in th ...

, reissuing much of the

Circle Records Circle Records is a jazz record label founded in 1946 by Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis. History In New York, Blesh and Janis heard jazz drummer Warren "Baby" Dodds playing inventive solos with Bunk Johnson's band. Blesh said he hated drum solos ...

back catalogue. He played with

Barney Bigard Albany Leon "Barney" Bigard (March 3, 1906 – June 27, 1980) was an American jazz clarinetist known for his 15-year tenure with Duke Ellington. He also played tenor saxophone. Biography Bigard was born in New Orleans to Creoles of color, Cr ...

in 1976, and recorded many dates as a leader. Martyn died on 17 July 2023, at the age of 82.

References

Bibliography

*''Walking with Legends: Barry Martyn's New Orleans Jazz Odyssey''. Edited by Mick Burns. Louisiana State University Press. 2007. .

External links

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author. Life and career Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Beginning in 1974, Yanow was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles and was the jazz e ...

, Barry Martynat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Barry Martyn papers
a
The Historic New Orleans Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martyn, Barry 1941 births 2023 deaths English jazz drummers English male drummers Jazz musicians from New Orleans American male jazz musicians