Instruments Saxophone Genres Jazz, Alternative rock Role Vocalist | Name Martin Fierro Website MartinFierroMusic.com | |
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Born 18 January 1942
United States ( 1942-01-18 ) Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, record producer Associated acts James Cotton, Quicksilver Messenger Service, David Grisman, Derek Trucks, Dark Star Orchestra, The Grateful Dead Died March 13, 2008, Marin County, California, United States Music group Legion of Mary (1974 – 1975) Similar People John Kahn, Paul Humphrey, Jerry Garcia | ||
Martin Fierro (January 18, 1942 – March 13, 2008) was a saxophonist who played with the Sir Douglas Quintet, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jerry Garcia.
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Music career
Fierro was born in Mexico in 1942 and grew up in El Paso, Texas. He taught himself how to play saxophone and as a teenager participated in rock bands. He concentrated on jazz in his early 20s. He toured Mexico with a band, then moved to San Francisco and joined Mother Earth, a blues rock group led by Tracy Nelson. He became a member of the rock band the Sir Douglas Quintet in 1968. He also played with Quicksilver Messenger Service and James Cotton.
In 1971s, Fierro played saxophone and flute on Hooteroll?, an instrumental, free-form album by guitarist Jerry Garcia and keyboard player Howard Wales. Three years later he joined another project by Garcia known as Legion of Mary. Like Garcia's Grateful Dead, Legion of Mary combined rock and blues with long improvisation. He appeared on the Dead's album Wake of the Flood in 1973 and toured with them that year.
In 1988, Fierro joined the Bay Area Jam Band Zero alongside founding members Steve Kimock, Bobby Vega, and Greg Anton. The band is generally regarded as one of the foundational examples that pioneered the jam band style of playing. His tenure with the band would garner praise and even more affirmation of his improvisational prowess. In later years he played with the jam bands the String Cheese Incident and the Dark Star Orchestra.
He was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2008.
Discography
With James Cotton
With Mother Earth
With Sir Douglas Quintet
With Quicksilver Messenger Service
With Jerry Garcia/Grateful Dead/Legion of Mary
With Merl Saunders
With Zero
With the String Cheese Incident