Martin Fierro (saxophonist)

Martin Fierro (January 18, 1942 – March 13, 2008) was a saxophonist who played with the Sir Douglas Quintet, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jerry Garcia, and Zero. He is the father of actor David Fierro.

Music career

Fierro was born in Mexico in 1942 and grew up in El Paso, Texas. He pronounced his name Mar-TEEN. 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 1971, 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 1984, Fierro joined the Bay Area Jam Band Zero alongside founding members Steve Kimock, Bobby Vega, John Cipollina, 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 also played local San Francisco Bay Area gigs with his Martin Fierro Jazz Quartet.

He was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2008.

Discography

With James Cotton
* 1968 ''Cut You Loose!''

With Mother Earth
* 1968 ''Living with the Animals''
* 1968 ''Revolution''

With Shades Of Joy
* 1969 ''Shades Of Joy''
* 1970 ''Music Of El Topo''

With Sir Douglas Quintet
* 1969 '' Mendocino''
* 1970 ''1+1+1=4''
* 1973 ''Texas Tornado''

With Quicksilver Messenger Service
* 1970 '' What About Me''
* 1986 '' Peace by Piece''

With Jerry Garcia
* 1971 ''Hooteroll?''
* 1973 '' Wake of the Flood''
* 1997 ''The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute''
* 2004 '' Pure Jerry: Keystone Berkeley, September 1, 1974''
* 2005 '' Legion of Mary: The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 1''
* 2005 '' Garcia Plays Dylan''
* 2013 '' Garcia Live Volume Three''
* 2018 '' Garcia Live Volume Nine''
* 2020 '' Garcia Live Volume 15''
* 2022 '' Garcia Live Volume 18''

With Merl Saunders
* 1997 ''Keepers''

With Zero
* 1987 ''Nothin' Goes Here''
* 1991 ''Live: Go Hear Nothin
* 1994 ''Chance in a Million''
* 1997 ''Zero Zero''
* 1998 ''Nothin' Lasts Forever''
* 2002 ''Double Zero Zero''

With Rory Gallagher
* 2011 '' Notes from San Francisco'' (on tracks 1 and 8 – recorded in 1978)

With the String Cheese Incident
* 2004 '' On the Road: 12-08-03 Redwood City, California''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fierro, Martin
1942 births
2008 deaths
Deaths from cancer in California
American jazz tenor saxophonists
American male saxophonists
American musicians of Mexican descent
20th-century American saxophonists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
Hispanic and Latino American musicians
Legion of Mary (band) members
Sir Douglas Quintet members
Mother Earth (American band) members