PAT MARTINO TRIBUTE

A personal recollection of a jazz guitar legend but also an old friend, from Milton Mermikides.

- Milton Mermikides.

Like many in the guitar and jazz communities, I was saddened to hear of the passing of Pat Martino. While many of the ‘jazz greats’ are only remembered through ‘classic’ recordings and black and white images, I knew Pat in rich and recent technicolor. He started playing professionally at the age of 15 touring with (and intimidating) musicians three times his age. His award-winning career continued for 60 years and was only briefly interrupted by his devastating brain surgery in 1980 and his final struggle with a chronic respiratory disorder in the last two years of his life.

Many have heard the story of how - after an enormous aneurysm was removed from his brain - Pat was stripped of not only the ability of how to play but any memory that he ever did play. By transcribing his