Snarky Puppy’s Shaun Martin Dies at 45

By Michael J. West I Aug. 7, 2024

In addition to his work with Snarky Puppy, Martin freelanced as a keyboardist, producer and music director with prominent gospel and R&B musicians.
(Photo: Royal Artist Group)

Shaun Martin, a multifaceted, Grammy-winning pianist, keyboardist and producer who was best known for his work in the fusion collective Snarky Puppy, died Aug. 3. He was 45.

His death was announced by Snarky Puppy with a statement on X and Instagram. The location and cause of death were not given; however, Martin had been battling an undisclosed illness since April 2023. A benefit concert in his hometown of Dallas had been scheduled for Sept. 14.

“Yesterday, we lost a music legend and, more importantly, a beautiful, luminous human being,” the band said in its statement. “Shaun Martin touched so many people during his life and through the beautiful immortality of music, will continue to do so. There’s so much that can be said but words can’t do justice.”

A member of Snarky Puppy since 2010, Martin played piano, organ, clavinet, mellotron, minimoog and a variety of other synthesizers and electronic keyboards, as well as vocoder and talk box. He also dabbled in bass and drum programming on several Snarky Puppy albums as well as on bandmate and drummer Larnell Lewis’ 2018 solo album In The Moment.

Martin also served as music director and record producer for gospel-R&B vocalist Kirk Franklin, with whom he had worked since he was a high school student in Franklin’s gospel choir God’s Property. Martin won four of his seven Grammy awards with Franklin (the other three were with Snarky Puppy). He freelanced as both keyboardist and producer with Erykah Badu, Ledisi, Timbaland and James Fortune; worked as a tour manager for Icelandic experimental artist Bjork; and appeared with other members of Snarky Puppy on singer-songwriter David Crosby’s 2017 album Sky Trails.

In addition, Martin recorded three albums under his own name for Ropeadope Records. When not on the road, he served as music minister for Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas.

Harold Lashaun Martin was born Aug. 23, 1978, to Harold and Novella Young Martin. At 4 years old, Martin saw a cartoon with Popeye the Sailor playing piano, and decided he wanted to play. His mother found him a teacher who taught him classical, jazz and gospel music, and theory. Raised in a deeply religious household, Martin from childhood played music in the church, which is where he first learned the Hammond organ.

Martin graduated from Dallas’ renowned Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts before enrolling at Weatherford College, then at the University of North Texas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 2001. In his final year at North Texas he began touring with Franklin as a solo artist, and worked as a cowriter and producer on singer-songwriter Erykah Badu’s 2000 album Mama’s Gun.

In 2009, Martin joined the large jazz fusion ensemble Snarky Puppy, entering the band in time to record the band’s label debut Tell Your Friends (Ropeadope). The association brought him an international profile — if not always the most luxurious accommodations. “I remember one day I literally went from staying in the Ritz-Carlton in Detroit to sleeping on somebody’s floor in Lafayette, Louisiana, in Snarky Puppy,” he said in a 2015 interview. “But the music I’m making with Snarky is worth that.”

His success with Snarky Puppy allowed Martin to release his solo debut Seven Summers on Ropeadope in 2015. Two more albums followed in 2018 (Focus) and 2020 (Three-O). His gospel roots were on vivid display throughout all of his projects, as were jazz, funk, R&B and rock chops. His final recording was Snarky Puppy’s Empire Central, recorded and released in 2022.

In addition to his parents, Martin is survived by his wife, the former Monica Wilson, and his son, Harlem Martin.

Martin was fond of telling a story about traveling with Snarky Puppy to South Africa in 2013 at the time that Nelson Mandela had died. “I watched everybody partying in the street,” he recalled. “It was the biggest party I’d ever seen before in my entire life, and it taught me something. … It was like, ‘You know what? I want people to celebrate the fact that I lived, and not the fact that I died.’” DB