Mel Martin

Mel Martin leads Bebop & Beyond as a flexible reed instrumentalist rooted in bop yet open to wider influences, establishing himself as a consistent presence on the San Francisco scene from the 1970s forward. He played his debut engagement at fourteen, then enrolled at San Francisco State University only to leave school and turn professional. Early work linked him with the rock outfits Santana, Azteca, Cold Blood, Boz Scaggs, and Van Morrison, plus extensive studio activity. From 1977 to 1978 he directed the exploratory fusion unit Listen, which cut two albums for Inner City and counted steel-drum specialist Andy Narell among its players. After issuing a 1983 duet recording on Catero with guitarist Randy Vincent, Martin launched Bebop & Beyond, a group that has released material on Concord and Bluemoon, including tribute sets to Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie, the second of which featured Gillespie himself. Bebop & Beyond’s roster has included Vincent, George Cables, Eddie Marshall, and Warren Gale, while its albums have also welcomed guests John Handy and Howard Johnson. In addition to exploring the Charles Mingus repertoire through the band, Martin issued a solo Enja collection devoted to Benny Carter tunes.