Pat Martino Tribute Concert at The Iridium Sept 19
The Iridium presents an all-star jazz guitar tribute concert honoring the legendary Pat Martino on Sept 19. Featuring 10 acclaimed guitarists and Allan Mednard.
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NEW YORK, Sept. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Iridium, New York’s storied jazz and guitar venue in the heart of Times Square, will present A Concert Honoring Pat Martino on Saturday, September 19, 2026, at 8:30 PM. The evening brings together ten celebrated guitarists, joined by drummer Allan Mednard, for a single night dedicated to the music and memory of Pat Martino, whose influence on jazz guitar spanned more than five decades.
The lineup includes Adam Rogers, Dave Stryker, Oz Noy, Rez Abbasi, Nir Felder, Ed Cherry, Sheryl Bailey, Joel Harrison, Paul Bollenback and Jeff Miles, alongside Mednard, representing a cross-section of generations and styles within contemporary jazz, united for the evening by their connection to Martino’s music and legacy.
Few guitarists cast a shadow over modern jazz quite like Pat Martino. A master of astonishing technique, harmonic sophistication and soulful invention, his influence stretches across generations of players. HighNote Records and the Alternative Guitar Summit, led by Joel Harrison, recently celebrated Pat’s legacy with a second volume of his music covered by some of today’s finest guitarists. This show features many of those artists interpreting Pat’s formidable and unique compositions.
About Pat Martino
Born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philadelphia in 1944, Pat Martino emerged in the 1960s as one of the most technically distinctive guitarists of his generation, recording for labels including Prestige, Warner Bros., Muse and Blue Note. In 1980, a brain aneurysm and subsequent surgery left him with severe memory loss, erasing his ability to play the instrument that had defined his career. Martino relearned guitar in part by listening to his own earlier recordings, a comeback widely regarded as one of the most remarkable in jazz history. He went on to record and perform for another three decades, earning multiple Grammy nominations along the way. Martino died on November 1, 2021, at the age of 77.
About the Performers
Adam Rogers studied classical guitar at Mannes School of Music and counted John Scofield and Barry Galbraith among his teachers. A longtime member of Michael Brecker’s band and a founding member of the fusion group Forq, he has also worked with Kenny Barron, Brian Blade and Walter Becker.
Dave Stryker has recorded more than 35 albums as a leader and spent a decade as a featured sideman with saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. He has been voted a top guitarist in the DownBeat Critics and Readers Polls ten times and serves as adjunct professor of jazz guitar at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
Oz Noy is an Israeli-American guitarist based in New York City who blends jazz, funk, blues and rock. He has released more than ten albums as a bandleader and was named Best New Talent (2009) and Best “Out There” Guitarist (2013) in Guitar Player magazine’s annual reader polls.
Rez Abbasi is a Pakistan-born, New York-based guitarist and composer known for blending jazz with South Asian classical influences. He studied tabla under Ustad Alla Rakha and is on the guitar faculty at The New School.
Nir Felder is a two-time winner of DownBeat’s Critics Poll for “Rising Star Guitarist” (2021 and 2023). His major-label debut, Golden Age (Sony/OKeh, 2014), drew acclaim from The New York Times and The Boston Globe. He has performed and recorded with Chaka Khan, Diana Krall, John Mayer, Esperanza Spalding and Terri Lyne Carrington, and teaches at The New School and Berklee College of Music.
Ed Cherry is best known for his long tenure with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, performing in Gillespie’s quartet, big band and the Grammy-winning United Nation Orchestra from 1978 until shortly before Gillespie’s death in 1993. He has since worked with Paquito D’Rivera, Jon Faddis and Henry Threadgill.
Sheryl Bailey has been a professor of guitar at Berklee College of Music since 2000 and now serves as Assistant Chair of its Guitar Department. She took third place in the 1995 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition, was a U.S. State Department Jazz Ambassador in 2000, and was named a Rising Star in DownBeat’s Critics Poll six years running (2014–2019).
Joel Harrison is a 2010 Guggenheim Fellow and two-time winner of the Jazz Composers Alliance’s Julius Hemphill Composition Competition. He is the founder and director of the Alternative Guitar Summit and produced the recent HighNote Records tribute volumes to Pat Martino’s music that inspired this concert.
Paul Bollenback has appeared on more than 80 recordings as a sideman and released eight as a leader, including a 20-year association with organist Joey DeFrancesco. He has also performed with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff and James Moody, and has been publicly praised by guitarist George Benson.
Jeff Miles won first prize at the Gibson Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition in 2008, shortly after graduating from Berklee College of Music, and has led his own groups at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Allan Mednard is a New York-based jazz drummer, raised in Queens, who holds a BFA in jazz performance from the City College of New York. He has performed and recorded with Jeremy Pelt, Ben Allison, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brandee Younger and Julian Shore, among others.
Event Details
- What: A Concert Honoring Pat Martino, featuring Adam Rogers, Dave Stryker, Oz Noy, Rez Abbasi, Nir Felder, Ed Cherry, Sheryl Bailey, Joel Harrison, Paul Bollenback and Jeff Miles, with drummer Allan Mednard
- Produced by: Joel Harrison / Alternative Guitar Summit, in connection with the HighNote Records Pat Martino tribute series
- When: Saturday, September 19, 2026, 8:30 PM ET
- Where: The Iridium, 1650 Broadway (at 51st Street), New York, NY 10019
- Tickets: Available now at TheIridium.com
- Dining: The Iridium offers a full menu of delicious food and beverage options. Guests are encouraged to arrive early for dinner and drinks before the show.
About The Iridium
Located in the heart of Times Square, The Iridium has served as one of New York City’s premier venues for jazz, rock and blues for over three decades, with a history closely tied to guitar legend Les Paul, who held a weekly residency there for more than a decade. The club continues its “jazz any instrument, guitar any genre” booking philosophy, hosting both established legends and rising artists. The Iridium also offers a full menu of food and beverage options, and guests are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy dinner before the show.
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