ARMAND
ST. MARTIN:
From
Professor
Longhair to
Jerry Lee Lewis
and Everything
in Between
By Dean M. Shapiro
The man who a local music writer
recently called “a piano giant in the great
New Orleans tradition,” Armand St.
Martin freely acknowledges the influence
of the maestros of the 88’s on whose shoulders
he stands.
Following in the legendary footsteps of
New Orleans piano greats like Professor
Longhair, Fats Domino, James Booker,
Allen Toussaint, Tuts Washington,
Roosevelt Sykes, Jelly Roll Morton, and
Dr. John, as well as Louisiana’s own
Mickey Gilley and Jerry Lee Lewis. St.
Martin excels in delivering his own identifiable
“St. Martin Sound” influenced and
inspired by the eras of his musical heroes.
For more than five decades, accompanied
by his distinctive baritone vocals, St.
Martin has effortlessly been playing piano
while singing his favorite New Orleans
classic covers, as well as offering his own
signature originals that fans claim, “should
be New Orleans classics if they aren’t
already."
Whether St. Martin is performing solo or
with his jazzy trio, his jazz band or his roots
rock ’n’ roll band, he is “non-stop entertainment”
according to a reviewer from the Los
Angeles Times.
Another respected music critic, Lenny
Kaye, enthusiastically analyzed St.
Martin’s performance one evening during
the Ponderosa Stomp at Rock ’n’ Bowl.
“Armand St. Martin is fascinating to watch
play piano. He's a cross between Jerry Lee
Lewis and Thelonious Monk!”
Over the years he has performed for
presidents, movie stars, musical superstars
and other celebrities, as well as the general
public. Regardless of who his audience is,
he always delivers his best efforts, performing
an estimated 200 concerts a year in
New Orleans plus concerts in Los Angeles.
Recounting one of the highlights of his
long musical career, St. Martin proudly
recalls a July 4 show he performed at
the Dos Jefes Cigar Bar in uptown New
Orleans at which a special guest showed
up. As he recounts, “A friend brought Allen
Toussaint to the show – which was packed
– and when they walked in, everybody’s
heads turned including mine. Allen and
our friend sat down right in front of me
and visibly enjoyed my entertainment all
evening.”
Continuing, St. Martin said, “A stranger
asked me later if having Allen Toussaint
show up made me nervous. I replied,
‘No! I was excited!’ I had played on the
same bookings as Allen quite a few times
and I knew him. Immediately after the
show, he shook my hand and, as always,
he complimented me on my piano playing
and singing, and told me I had the largest
repertoire of any musician he’d ever
known.”
On another occasion, around Christmas,
he entertained on a Yamaha baby grand
at an intimate invitation-only party in
an elaborately decorated Audubon Place
mansion with the guest of honor couple
being a former U.S. President and his wife,
28 | BREAKTHRU MEDIA | breakthrumediamagazine.com MAY / J U N E 2 0 1 9
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