Trumpet legend Martin Banks passes away

[Soul Stream]

Texas trumpet legend Martin Banks passed away Friday, August 20th here in Austin. Reports I have are that he suffered a heart attack on Tues., followed by a brain aneurism(?) in the hospital causing his death.

I had the pleasure of playing with Martin many times. He was a dear friend and I'll miss him very much. As Martin used to say ever so sloooowly..."Dawg-gawnnit!"

My local heroes are disappearing. Larry Williams (wonderful tenor), G.T. Hogan and now Martin Banks. All gone in the last 6 months.

If you haven't heard Martin...check out Harold Land's "Take Aim": Dexter Gordon's "The Resurgence of": Archie Shepp's "Magic of Juju" to name a few....

Bye now Martin.

[Miles251]

Free For All...

Did you know Martin Bnks when you lived in Austin? If so, can you tell us more about him....got to admit, I'm clueless.

[Free For All]

Martin Banks

Here's some info on him. I did play with him many times in the 80s. A good solid trumpet player with a soulful vibe, and he played the role of mentor to many of the local musicians. A really nice guy.

I expect the Austin board members can discuss him with better depth than I can.

Soul Stream mentioned several relevant recordings to check out. How was he sounding as of late, SS?

RIP

[Spontooneous]

Found this on the Web too:

http://weeklywire.com/ww/05-03-99/austin_music_feature3.html

[JSngry]

Sad to see him go...

[sidewinder]

I'm sorry to hear this. I've always liked Martin Banks' playing, particularly with the ensemble on the Roland Kirk 'Slightly Latin' LP. He had a nice sound on flugel. Also great contributions to Jimmy Woods 'Awakening' and the Harold Land and Archie Shepp albums previously mentioned.

[agriffith]

Sorry to hear this.

RIP Martin Banks.

Maybe he and G.T. are starting a band together.