Mark Martin

I like writing profiles. But honestly I don't think this is as good as I could have written it. It could have been better if some of my contacts were available for an interview but for the sake of having class starting in 1-minute. Voici-mon ecrive.




Mark Martin plays piano for a living, i.e., he is continuously broke, doesn’t have a car and lives in a barely furnished one bedroom apartment; but he does what he loves, and to Martin, that’s all that matters.

Five years ago Martin quit his high-paying job as an e-commerce administrator to play piano in the then-unknown jazz trio called the Jazz Orgy. Martin said that decision is one of the most defining moments of his life.

"There was a period where I literally did not see the sun for three months," Martin said. "I thought I was going to go crazy. I realized that I wasn’t doing what I loved and I wasn’t happy with my life."

The Jazz Orgy has become a fixture in downtown Oshkosh, and every Sunday night Martin can be seen jamming with the boys to a packed bar at Peabody’s Ale House on Main Street.

Martin was born on June 11, 1975 in West Bend, Wisc. He was the second youngest of seven children and attributes his love of piano to growing in a musical family.

“Everybody played music but primarily it was centered on piano,” said Martin. “I don’t even remember when I started playing. I literally have been doing this all my life.”

After graduating high school Martin attended UW-Whitewater majoring in piano music performance. After two years, he transferred to UW-Oshkosh where he met the members of his first band Revelations.

“We played jazz at St. Raphael’s church from 1998 to 2000,” Martin said. “This is how I met Andy Mertens, who rocks by the way.”

Andy Mertens is the bassist for the Jazz Orgy and is one of Martin’s closest friends.

“Mark cracks me up,” Mertens said. “When we play jazz together it’s no about the money, we do it for the kids and for love.”

After Martin met Mertens, the pair formed the Jazz Orgy. After looking for several different drummers the pair finally came across Mark Powers, a well-established percussionist in Oshkosh. Soon after the three met, the band began playing at Peabody’s Ale House.

“We were sitting at Peabody’s on a Sunday and the place was completely empty,” Martin said. “We thought that maybe if we played music there we could maybe pack that place with people on Sundays, and we did.”

Martin may not be the most personable fellow. He is short, wears glasses, and many of his friends describe him as being ‘kind of an asshole’. But Martin is well-loved by many, especially for his piano style.

“His fingers are like liquid of the keys,” said Jeff Bollier, one of Martin’s good friends. “His piano style is something that can’t truly be described though, it has to be witnessed.”

Russ Helms is a singer that sometimes performs with the Jazz Orgy. He first met Martin when he sang the song ‘Round Midnight’ with the band two years ago.

“Mark has many talents and he is one smooth bastard,” Helms said.

In the future, Martin would like to continue playing with the Jazz Orgy and tour internationally . For now, despite the lack of financial rewards that being a local musician brings , Martin said he will continue to play piano-his first love.

“Piano is the voice in which I communicate emotion and it’s the vehicle for which though travels,” Martin said. “It’s how I make little girls cry and how I make mothers cry, it’s my legacy, it’s my life, and it’s my calling.”