The leader of Bebop & Beyond and a versatile bop-based reed player with an open-minded style,
Mel Martin has been a fixture in San Francisco since the 1970s. He had his first gig when he was 14 and after attending San Francisco State, he dropped out to become a professional musician. Among His early associations among rock groups were with
Santana,
Azteca,
Cold Blood,
Boz Scaggs, and
Van Morrison, in addition to working in the studios. During 1977-1978, he led the adventurous fusion band Listen, a group that recorded two albums for Inner City and included among its sidemen steel drum wizard
Andy Narell. In 1983, after recording a duet album (for Catero) with guitarist Randy Vincent,
Martin formed Bebop & Beyond, a band that has since recorded for Concord and Bluemoon, including tribute albums to
Thelonious Monk and
Dizzy Gillespie; Gillespie participated on the latter. Among Bebop & Beyond's sidemen have been
Vincent,
George Cables,
Eddie Marshall, and
Warren Gale, with such guests on their albums as
John Handy and
Howard Johnson. In addition to performing music from the
Charles Mingus songbook with Bebop & Beyond,
Martin recorded a solo Enja set of
Benny Carter tunes. ~ Scott Yanow