Martin Fierro was a tenor saxophonist who played in the jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, freeform rock, and avant-garde traditions. Fierro played with the Sir Douglas Quintet

Sir Douglas Quintet

Sir Douglas Quintet was a rock band active in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Despite their British sounding name, they came out of San Antonio, Texas. Their career was established when they began working with Texas record-producer Huey P. Meaux, after which the band relocated to the West Coast...

, Legion of Mary

Legion of Mary (band)

Legion of Mary was an American rock band, formed by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead and his friend and musical collaborator Merl Saunders. The band lasted from July 12, 1974 to July 5, 1975. Its members included Garcia , Saunders , John Kahn , Martin Fierro and Paul Humphrey...

 / Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia

Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...

, James Cotton

James Cotton

James Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...

, Quicksilver Messenger Service

Quicksilver Messenger Service

Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco.-Introduction:Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe and several of their albums ranked...

, Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...

, Queen Ida

Queen Ida

Ida Lewis "Queen Ida" Guillory is an Louisiana Creole accordionist. She was the first female accordion player to lead a zydeco band...

, Jazz Is Dead

Jazz Is Dead

Jazz is Dead is an instrumental Grateful Dead cover band that interprets classic Dead songs with jazz influences. Although the group's composition has changed over time, with T Lavitz being the only constant member, the group is notable in featuring veterans of jazz and jazz fusion ensembles[]...

, The String Cheese Incident, David Grisman

David Grisman

David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...

, Derek Trucks

Derek Trucks

Derek Trucks is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded The Derek Trucks Band and worked as a session musician when he was still in his early teens. Throughout those teenage years, he toured with The Allman Brothers Band primarily as a slide...

, Dark Star Orchestra

Dark Star Orchestra

-References:* at the Internet Archive* - John Kadlecik's official website & personal pages**-External links:* , official website of Dark Star Orchestra* , official website of Dino English...

, the Allman Brothers, Merl Saunders

Merl Saunders

Merl Saunders, was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ.-Biography:...

, The Grateful Dead, Zero, Steve Kimock

Steve Kimock

-External links:** at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at the Internet Archive's live music archive* at Internet Archive's live music archive*, San Francisco, April 3, 1999*, Unofficial Fan Forum...

 & Friends, Yonder Mountain String Band

Yonder Mountain String Band

The Yonder Mountain String Band is an American progressive bluegrass group from Nederland, Colorado. Composed of Dave Johnston, Jeff Austin, Ben Kaufmann, and Adam Aijala, the band has released five studio albums and several live recordings to date.- History :The band's history stretches back to...

 and many more.

During a Zero concert, vocalist Judge Murphy, a long-time participant in the San Francisco music scene, referred to Martin as "the best musician I know".

Martin's wacky sense of humor was an added element at shows, with Martin often telling sophomoric one-liners between songs.

Fierro died on March 13, 2008 in Marin County

Marin County, California

Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 after a short battle with cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

.

Mr. Fierro was also known as "the Meester" to his many loving fans.

External links

• Official website