Solid Air: the Life of John Martyn

For over four decades John Martyn was a musicians musician (lauded by artists as disparate as Eric Clapton Phil Collins and Bob Marley) a superb guitarist and singer who straddled the worlds of folk jazz and rock earning an OBE and being honoured with a Life Achievement by the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards shortly before his untimely death in 2009. He was a true innovator constantly pushing the boundaries of his music but he hadnt been kind to his body. Drinking and drug use contributed to serious health problems that led to the amputation of part of Johns leg - but even that didnt slow him down. He turned out one of his best albums in 2007 and toured regularly. There were plans for a new record - but John succumbed to pneumonia early in 2009. He leaves behind a body of work that ranges from the beautifully intimate to the majestic created during a turbulent troubled but uncompromising life - all detailed in Solid Air.