{"id":21767,"date":"2010-10-16T10:12:46","date_gmt":"2010-10-16T17:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=21767"},"modified":"2010-10-16T10:26:14","modified_gmt":"2010-10-16T17:26:14","slug":"r-i-p-hans-martini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2010\/r-i-p-hans-martini\/","title":{"rendered":"R.I.P. Hans Martini"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nYesterday morning I received the phone call that I had been dreading. One of the dearest people in my life had left us. Hans Martini was the first person who I met in the musical community in Fredericton, NB.<\/p>\n

Hans was a fixture of the New Brunswick jazz scene. He regularly played festivals, taught, mentored, and repaired instruments. He studied saxophone at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force Band in 1962. In 1970 he relocated to Oromocto\u2019s RCR band, where he played lead alto saxophone for 21 years.<\/p>\n

I met Hans back in ’97 shortly after I moved to New Brunswick, when I needed to get my saxophones appraised for my insurance company. As the owner of Woodshed Sound, Hans was the go to guy<\/em> in Fredericton for repairs and appraisals.<\/p>\n

I had taken a number of years off from playing, and had not kept up with the craziness of the prices of Mark VI saxophones. So when I called Hans to make arrangements to bring the horns in, I was shocked when he told me that what I had was potentially quite valuable. He was quite excited to see my saxes, and asked me to bring them over right away. That was to be the beginning of a wonderful and special friendship.<\/p>\n

Because I was so rusty from not playing, I took a few lessons with Hans. Within a month he told me that he wasn’t going to take my money anymore, but that I was to continue coming on Thursday evenings and that we were to play duets.<\/p>\n

That’s what I did, and in time I suggested we form a saxophone quartet with some of his advanced students. It took a bit to find the right people, but eventually the Martini Sax Quintet<\/em> was founded. It was a great experience for me, and I enjoyed playing with Hans, George, Kelly, and Doug. Hans played lead alto or soprano\u2014whichever the score called for\u2014and I played baritone in the group.<\/p>\n

Hans and his wife Janet became much more than friends to me. For\u00a0this transplanted BC’er, these 2 were like family. Sometimes Hans and I would\u00a0bicker and we’d annoy each other, but we’d always make up, and we’d always be there for each other when it counted. We socialized regularly, and spend time together over the holidays.\u00a0Hans and Janet\u00a0really were like family.<\/p>\n

When I moved back to BC because of my mom’s health crisis, leaving the intricate relationships I’d built over 8 1\/2 years was incredibly hard. But leaving Hans and Janet was without a doubt, among the hardest.<\/p>\n

For the last couple of years Hans had been really struggling with his health, but because of my neurological problems, I can’t fly. The altitudes and pressures would cause all kinds of problems inside my head.\u00a0Unfortunately Hans and Janet couldn’t come out to\u00a0visit either, because of Hans’ declining health.<\/p>\n

I knew things were going badly for\u00a0him this year, and more than anything, I wanted to fly to Fredericton to be with my friend, but I couldn’t. So I could only speak to Janet and have her convey my\u00a0get\u00a0well soon\u00a0messages, and love to Hans.<\/p>\n

Hans\u00a0passed away on Wednesday, October 13. Janet told me yesterday he was very brave and courageous. I wouldn’t have expected anything different from my dear friend.<\/p>\n

Hans has left a rich and creative legacy. It’s up to those of us who he touched, to pick up the torch and play it forward, just as he did.<\/p>\n

\n
…this is just my blog<\/em>. <\/span> My \u201creal\u201d <\/b> website is<\/span> www.bassic-sax.info.<\/a> If you\u2019re looking for <\/span> sax info<\/strong>,<\/span> you should check it out too.<\/span>There\u2019s lots<\/em> there! <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
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Yesterday morning I received the phone call that I had been dreading. One of the dearest people in my life had left us. Hans Martini …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[127],"tags":[653,114],"class_list":["post-21767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-famous-not-so-famous-sax-players","tag-famous-not-so-famous-sax-players","tag-in-memoriam"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t