Sunday Benefit to Honor Blues Guitarist ‘Little Marty’ in Mt. Kisco
Marty Schechter may not have been a formally trained guitarist or have been able to read music but for a couple of his band mates whom he played with regularly there wasn’t a finer man to have on stage or to befriend.
Schechter, a mainstay on the blues jam music circuit throughout Westchester and Putnam for much of the past 25 years, died on Dec. 6 at the age of 50 after an eight-month battle with lung cancer.
“Martin had a very simple style as a player in that he was not a virtuoso on the instrument but he was coming from such a deep love of the traditional electric blues that was really about supporting the song with the music,” said Gary Schwartz, a Putnam Valley resident who met Schechter at the weekly jam session at the old Tap House Cafe in Bedford Hills in the late 1990s.
Schwartz has planned a benefit entitled “Little Marty’s Big Blues Fest, Vol. 1” Sunday at 2 p.m. at Katie Macs located at 30 E. Main St. in Mount Kisco, the current home of the Wednesday night Bring it on Home blues jam. He has enlisted some of the region’s best known musicians, including Geoff Hartwell, Petey Hop and The Chris O’Leary Band, who will be among the 15 artists and groups lending their talents to make music in Schechter’s memory.
Schwartz said he and Rich Kelly, another blues jam regular, came up with the idea to hold a benefit a few weeks ago after they visited Schechter. His condition had worsened and they had wanted to do something to help him and his two grown children, Nataneh and Jared, offset some of the costs. With his passing last week, money raised from the event will help with final expenses, he said.
“We wanted to do something for him that was going to help,” Schwartz said.
Although, Schechter, the house guitarist for the Katie Macs blues jams, was not a professional musician unlike most of the other regulars, he was equally respected, said Shane Kirsch, a music teacher at a private school in Connecticut and a neighbor of Little Marty in Goldens Bridge. The absence of formal training was no hindrance to Schechter.
“He was a very artistic guy,” Kirsch said. “A really talented, down to earth dude.”
Even though he was a regular at the Wednesday night blues jam, Schechter played at a wide assortment of venues in the region. Over the years, Schwartz said Schechter “probably played at almost every bar in Westchester.” Among the many places he had been seen at in recent years was Foley’s in Pleasantville and F.A.B. and 353 in Mount Kisco. He had also been the house guitarist at Gordo’s in Thornwood with his band The Greenville Glide.
When he wasn’t playing music, Schechter worked at a number of different jobs over the years. Kirsch said he remembered him from working at a Katonah store. He also held jobs as a security guard and bouncer while his Little Marty nickname was affectionately given to him by friends for his height, standing well in excess of six feet.
Most of all, Schwartz said that Schechter was a great friend and an outstanding father and concisely described him as “a mensch.”
“Martin was the best among us in terms of his living as a man,” he said. “Marty was that man because he was such a good and loving father to his children.”
On the Facebook page set up for the event Katie Macs owner Bob McMahon wrote “it has been my pleasure and honor to have met and known Marty. He will be missed by myself and the gang at Katie Macs. Marty’s guitar playing was inspiring while his personality was unmatched. Thank you Marty.”
The funeral was at Clark Associates Funeral Home in Katonah on Dec. 9. Burial took place at South Salem Cemetery on Dec. 10.
For more information about the event, visit the Little Marty’s Big Blues Fest, Vol. I Facebook page.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/