Drummer Barrett Martin is best-known for his years drumming with grunge-era rock bands like Screaming Trees, but jazz has also been a major part of his musical life since he was a kid at Olympia High School.
"I had this really formative experience when I was a senior in high school, where we had the Count Basie Big Band with Cab Calloway. I got to meet Freddie Green, the guitar player, and I met Cab Calloway," he said.
In 2017, Martin brought his jazz rock crew, the Barrett Martin Group, to the KNKX studios. During that visit, he drew connections between his grandparents' record collection, the globetrotting he's done on tour, and his distinctive jazz rock sound.
Martin first fell in love with music in front of his family's player piano, which churned out ragtime, big band, and show tunes.
"That, actually, was what I grew up with more than rock and roll. It was that and my grandparents' '78 record collection of all the post-World War II big band stuff," Martin said.
Later, Martin learned a lot in the rock and roll world. He's become a busy producer, arranger, and songwriter. He wrote his first song while he was with the early grunge band Skin Yard.
"I actually started playing guitar and writing a song, and then I just continued into the Screaming Trees, and I co-wrote several of our songs when I was in that band, as well," he said.
Touring the world in rock bands inspired Martin to study music from around the world. He's earned a master's degree in ethnomusicology and linguistics, and loves to bring global rhythms to his own music. He's played with Senegalese percussionist Thione Diop for two decades.
"I studied with his dad in Senegal when Thione was only — I think you were 14 or 15 — and so when we play together, it just inherently brings that into our bands," Martin said.
Martin learned more than percussion techniques from his mentors in West Africa, Central and South America, the Palestinian West Bank, and far beyond. In his travels, he's admired how other cultures value music.
"It's not a commodity that they're selling. It hasn't been capitalized the way we do it. They do it because it's part of their culture, it's part of their ceremonies, and it's what gives them meaning," he said.
"And a lot of anthropologists and musicologists believe that it was a life-saving mechanism because it pulled people together and made them stay together."
Martin isn't done playing rock and roll. His band with vocalist Jeff Angell called Walking Papers also includes veteran Seattle rocker Duff McKagan from the '80s band Guns N' Roses.
Martin says he's honored to be part of the long continuum of music here in the Pacific Northwest.
"Starting in the early 20th century, with all the all the blues and jazz that was here, and then over time, it just kept growing like a fractal. It just keeps going," Martin said.
Martin keeps going, too. Since 2017, he's released three records with the Barrett Martin group, formed the supergroup Silverlites with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes, and Joseph Arthur, and published three books, including his best-selling 2023 memoir The Greatest Band That Ever Wasn't.
Songs heard in this episode:
- "Marching Orders"
- "The Conjurer"
- "Death on the Lips"
