“Throughout the album, his tenor tone is bright and bold, his solos and melodic lines are smartly rendered.”
Keith Spera - The New Orleans Advocate
“A little bit more of this… and Martin could carve out his own corner of the funk world”
Brett Milano - Offbeat Magazine
“Besides the strong production values on the album and the musicianship of his band, Martin’s songwriting is one of the album’s biggest strengths”
Jay Mazza - Vinyl District
“Same Old Same Old” opens the album with a funky New Orleans style drumbeat and a rhythm section that the listener cannot ignore, drawing the listener in and inviting them to get up and dance.
Chris Saucier - WWOZ.com
“It’s a reflection on the grind, the late nights, and the hustle of the local music scene, as well as on the travels that have taken him all over the world to perform for fans hungry for authentic New Orleans Music”
Brian Friedman - NPR - All Things New Orleans
CONTACT:
James Martin
504.258.7078 / JamesMartinBooking@gmail.com
Biography
Saxophonist, singer, and songwriter James Martin is an accomplished and award-winning solo artist, band member and touring musician whose 19-year career has brought him international acclaim several times over.
Beginning his career at the prestigious New Orleans Center for Creative Arts where he became a founding member of classmate Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews’ Orleans Avenue alongside Jon Batiste, Martin earned a full scholarship to Loyola University with a double major in Jazz Saxophone and Music Industries. During his seven-year tenure with Orleans Avenue, he and the band released three albums, some of which included original music contributed by Martin.
Most recently, his solo work with the James Martin Band has led him to performances at the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival; the Copenhagen Jazz Festival; the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; the Spiagge Soul Festival south of Venice, Italy; the Breda Jazz Fest in the Netherlands, the New Orleans Jazz Festival in Tel Aviv; Fort L’Ecluse Jazz Festival in southern France; the Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland; as well as regular performances at renowned New Orleans venues including Tipitina’s, The Spotted Cat Music Club, and the Monteleone Carousel Lounge. The James Martin Band’s third album debuted October 2019 at #9 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and was named one of the top 50 albums in Louisiana by OffBeat Magazine.
Martin has been an integral member of several other bands, including the award-winning Soul Brass Band, Ernie Vincent and the Top Notes, and the Billboard charting Glen David Andrews Band among others. With the globally touring Soul Brass Band, Martin serves as a writer, arranger and singer in addition to instrumentalist. The band released Levels, produced by Galactic’s Ben Ellman, in early 2019. Along with Soul Brass Band co-founder Derrick Freeman, Martin graced the cover of OffBeat Magazine in 2018 and has been nominated Best Saxophonist at OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Music Awards several times.
In addition to performances and recordings with Ivan Neville, Flowtribe, Eddie Roberts, Amanda Shaw, James Andrews and many other prominent musicians, Martin has contributed original music to CBS’ “NCIS: New Orleans”, arranged a version of the “Popeye’s Chicken” theme for international use, and has been heard on Anthony Bourdain’s “Raw Craft,” as well as on Abu Dhabi TV. On Abu Dhabi TV, Martin hosted Middle Eastern composer Faisal al Saari in New Orleans, where the pair collaborated in a recording studio and live performance. Martin appeared on the award-winning HBO series about post-Katrina New Orleans, “Treme.” He earned nationwide recognition for his 2011 appearance alongside acclaimed fiddler Amanda Shaw during the intro segment for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football.”