Artist info

Guitarist Pat Martino makes his second Jazz Series appearance, returning to the Blue Note -- the perfect venue for his group. This time around the legendary guitarist arrives with a remarkable quartet that includes full-sounding tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, powerful Hammond B-3 organist Tony Monaco and drummer Jason Brown.

One of the most original jazz-based guitarists to emerge since the 1960s, Martino worked early on with saxophonists Willis Jackson and Red Holloway and organists such as Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff and Jimmy McGriff. It stands to reason that with Monaco and Alexander on hand the potential of a magical evening exists.

The New York-based in demand Alexander is no stranger to the Jazz Series and we eagerly await his return. Organist Monaco, an Ohioan, is now just receiving the kind of wide-spread praise he has deserved for a long time. He and drummer Jason Brown make their first Jazz Series appearances.

Martino's almost unbelievable personal story -- his complete loss of memory in 1980 after being operated on for a brain aneurism and his subsequent "relearning" of his instrument from scratch -- is documented in the 2008 film, Martino Unstrung, which shows at Ragtag Cinema the night before his performance.