It is with heavy hearts that we share this message. Chicago blues pianist and member of our IROCKU family, Marty Sammon, passed away on October 15, 2022; one day after his 45th birthday. Marty was born and raised in Chicago and began playing the Chicago clubs by the (under)age of 15. Marty was as genuine and true to Chicago Blues piano as Dr. John was to New Orleans piano. He was best known for his 10+ year gig with Buddy Guy and was a regular at Buddy Guy’s Chicago club ‘Legends’. He left his energetic imprint on dozens of recordings including those of Devon Allman, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, Carlos Santana, Otis Rush and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Marty had a dynamic style, sounding loose while commanding incredible precision on the keys…Marty was also a gem of a person.
In 2015, Marty wrote a book titled “Blues Keyboard Method” with the forward written by Chuck Leavell. He also recorded a Chicago blues lesson series for IROCKU, spearheaded by IROCKU member Debra Lewis. Touring, and then covid, unfortunately prevented him from completing the lesson series. We’ll do our best to dust off Marty’s recordings and share them with all of you on IROCKU.
RIP Marty.
The video below is from these unpublished recordings:
Recorded at Buddy Guy’s Legends, Jan 28,2020
Learn how to play rock and blues piano from one of rock’s greatest. Chuck Leavell, legendary keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, The Allman Bros, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and more.
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