Barry Martyn

Barry Martyn has been as important a producer and propagandist for New Orleans jazz as he has been a drummer. Throughout his career, he has frequently been the youngest member (often by decades) in the bands he led. Martyn, who began playing drums in 1955, was a natural-born leader, heading his first group a year later; he was recording by 1959. Martyn was primarily interested in New Orleans revival jazz as played by the veterans. In 1961 he first visited New Orleans, where he studied drums with Cie Frazier and founded the Mono label. Throughout the 1960s Martyn accompanied Ne...