Chink Martin

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Chink Abraham, better known as Chink Martin (June 10, 1886, New Orleans - January 7, 1981, New Orleans) was an American jazz tubist.

Martin played guitar in his youth before settling on tuba. He played with Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band around 1910, and worked in various other brass bands in the city in the 1910's. In 1923, he traveled to Chicago and played with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, as well as with the Halfway House Orchestra, the New Orleans Harmony Kings, and the New Orleans Swing Kings. In the 1930s, Martin worked as a staff musician at WSMB radio. He continued to play tuba for his entire career, though he also picked up double-bass (like many tubists) from the 1930s onward. He played with dozens of noted New Orleans jazz musicians, appearing on record with Sharkey Bonano, Santo Pecora, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, and others, and released one album under his own name on Southland Records in 1963.

Martin's son, Martin "Little Chink" Abraham, is a jazz bassist.

[edit] References

• Scott Yanow, Chink Martin at All Music Guide