Jazz&Jazz Portraits of Father and Son, Barry and Emile… The Martyn Maestro Drummers

My visit to Mandeville’s Dew Drop Hall
back in 2010 was more than magical, 
it was golden.

It was the inspiration for my jazz portraits posted over the years on Jazz&Jazz – nowadays somewhat superseded by my Jazz&Jazz YouTubes.

But more than that, it was my first opportunity to present to
Barry Martyn the fine art Giclée prints of a portrait I had
painted of him at The 100 Club in London, and of his son
Emile on drums, at “Jazz in the Barn” in Throwley, Kent, with
his “Fallen Heroes”.

Barry’s reaction? I will never forget it. He held up both portraits for the audience to see and declared “Peter has just given me these two remarkable portraits of myself and my son, Emile. Take a close look at them and you’ll see Emile is already going grey!”

Later Barry wrote a letter to me urging me “to keep doing what you are doing for jazz”.
I’m still striving to, Barry.

I penned two poems to accompany Giclée Prints of the portraits:

Top: For Barry

Barry Martyn at the 100 Club
Hail to a Legend of Jazz
And showman supreme
Whose flare and pizzaz
Revived the New Orleans Dream.

* This was during Barry’s very last appearance at The 100 Club. I will never forget his departing words to his UK fans … that despite his New Orleans drawl he was a Londoner – “In fact I was conceived under that grand piano!”

Below: For Emile

Emile on Drums
Good time Jazz in deepest Kent
With New Orleans beat to turn up the heat
Emile on drums, inspired, intense,
A Fallen Hero with the world at his feet.

One of my earliest Jazz&Jazz YouTubes includes Emile on drums at the very last jam packed session of Thursday Lunchtime Jazz at The 100 Club on 12th December, 2013:

To this day I am grateful to Emile for supporting my efforts for jazz over the last decade.

Peter M Butler
Editor & Proprietor Jazz&Jazz

(Photos & Prints © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)

Rider: The February 2020 issue of Just Jazz Magazine includes an article by Mike Pointon on a documentary film produced by Emile Martyn: “Harold Dejan: A Sentimental Journey.”

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