Multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and arranger Shaun Martin, best known as keyboardist for jazz-fusion giants Snarky Puppy, died on Saturday (3 August) at the age of just 45.
He had been under constant medical supervision since suffering a massive stroke in April 2023.
Snarky Puppy released a statement on their social media platforms on Sunday announcing his death, stating, “Yesterday, we lost a music legend and, more importantly, a beautiful, luminous human being. Shaun Martin touched so many people during his life and through the beautiful immortality of music, will continue to do so…”
In his nearly-30 year career, Martin produced for some of the best-known figures in music including Erykah Badu, Chaka Khan, Bjork, Ledisi, Alicia Keys, Larnell Lewis and gospel star Kirk Franklin. He won no fewer than seven Grammy Awards over the course of his career.
Dallas’ ABC television affiliate, WFAA, described Shaun as being “among the most celebrated musicians Dallas has ever produced.”
Born in Dallas, Texas on 23 August 1978, Shaun started playing the piano at four years old. He attended the illustrious Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts which launched the careers of artists such as Roy Hargrove, Erykah Badu and Norah Jones. He was still in high school when he started to work with gospel recording artist Kirk Franklin on his fourth album God’s Property from Kirk Franklin’s Nu Nation and by the time he was 20, Martin was writing and producing for his classmate Erykah Badu including the hit songs ‘On & On’ and ‘Bag Lady’. With Kirk Franklin, he served as a member of his choir God’s Property and later became Franklin’s Music Director which netted him four Grammys. When Martin was not on tour, he served as the Minister of Music and Worship at Friendship-West Baptist Church in Oak Cliff, Texas prior to his illness.
Martin joined Snarky Puppy in the late 2000s and won three Grammys with the group, including one in 2023 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album fwith 2022 album Empire_Central.
Prior to his death, a benefit concert for Martin was announced and scheduled for 14 September in Dallas featuring Robert Glasper, Norah Jones and Erykah Badu.
