It was a musically thrilling but emotionally heavy week at New York’s Blue Note Jazz Club as Ghost-Note bandleaders Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth processed the loss of their Snarky Puppy bandmate Shaun Martin, who passed away on Saturday, two days before the start of the band’s three-night residency.
There was plenty of love at the intimate NYC venue, with fans filling the iconic club for early and late shows on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights. Special guests Karl Denson and drummer Blaque Dynamite (a.k.a. Mike Mitchell) also stopped by to sit in with the band, making for an atmosphere of much-needed togetherness. Nonetheless, it was obvious that the death of their musical brother weighed heavy on the band, especially Sput, who got his start alongside Martin and rose to prominence with the late keyboardist and Nate Werth as a member of Snarky Puppy.
Sput and Martin both grew up playing gospel music in Dallas churches and attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts (Blaque Dynamite also graduated from the same school years later). They both established themselves as top players in the vibrant Dallas music scene, contributing to the city’s eclectic musical identity with their unique blend of funk, hip-hop, jazz, and gospel styles. They then went on to fulfill similar roles in Snarky Puppy, according to bandleader/bassist Michael League.
“The band was a college band sounding like a college band for years,” he reflected in a 2022 interview with L4LM. “I think that once people like Sput and Bobby Sparks and Bernard Wright and Shaun Martin, once they started playing with the band, they changed everything. It pushed us into this totally new direction. And it was incredible because it was like we were making news. Suddenly the people who were influencing our music were in our band. And that’s like a very special moment I think in the history of Snarky Puppy. The music got a lot funkier, it got a lot tighter, it got a lot more emotional also. It got a lot simpler, less brainy.”
Sput admitted on stage on Wednesday that he had still not had time to grieve Martin, whom he called one of his best friends. He continued by acknowledging some of the many other musicians who have recently passed, including Aaron Spears, James Casey, Bernard Wright, Nick Daniels III, Quennel Gaskin, and Casey Benjamin.
“They may be gone, but not forgotten. They will always live through us,” Sput said as he put his head on his snare drum and started to cry.
Though difficult emotionally, the three-night run was a fitting tribute to Martin, his passion for music, and his enduring musical legacy, which will live on through the countless lives he touched.
Click below to view fan-shot video highlights and a photo gallery from Ghost-Note at Blue Note Jazz Club courtesy of photographer Ken Spielman. For a full list of the band’s upcoming tour dates and festival appearances, head here.
Ghost-Note – Blue Note Jazz Club – New York, NY – 8/5/24 [Highlights]
[Video: CheriD]
The post Ghost-Note Mourns Shaun Martin, Welcomes Karl Denson At Emotional Blue Note Residency [Photos/Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
