Imagine losing all ability to remember what you have done, losing all memory of how you were, what and how you created, expressed yourself, and made art.
Martino suffered seizures in the near midway of his life. Medical attention eventually exposed a congenital condition requiring surgery resulting in amnesia. I wonder if the lyrical, heart and soul deep music making that was a signature of Martino’s sound was also a congenital thing? Is that even possible?
His focus on returning to complete life and playing was understandably challenging and intensely methodical and spirited. He was able to play again with an enhanced signature. This quote from the guitarist’s obituary article in the New York Times speaks to a lens on jazz: ““Jazz is a way of life,… It’s not an idiom of music. Jazz is spontaneous improvisation. If you ever leave your house with nowhere to go, and just walk for pleasure, observing and looking around, you’ll find that you improvise.”
What is music if not something that is you, nurtured, and in Martino’s case, magnificently re-nurtured, and given the grace of a fate infused re-freshening.