December 3, 2019 marks the 5th anniversary of the passing of Martha Glaser.

The Erroll Garner Project would not be in existence without the life and work of Martha Glaser, and we wish to celebrate her, remember her, and to speak her name out loud as well as thank her.

Martha Glaser was a pioneer, and her history and contributions to the world of music, of jazz, of civil rights, and as a friend to her friends are not well known.

Martha was the first woman to work in the field of human rights during the early days of fighting segregation in Detroit and Chicago in the early 1940’s. She was the first to initiate anti-segregation concerts to fight white supremacy and build bridges in Chicago at the height of some of the worst outbreaks of racial strife in the 1940’s. Martha planted the idea of anti-segregation into Norman Granz’s productions which would later become the Jazz for Justice concerts throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s.

She was an advocate, manager, and friend to Erroll Garner for over 25 years. Together they pioneered for artists’ rights, for creative control of the music, and for ending the “all night playing” in clubs that exploited artists, which launched the beginning of “sets.”

Martha was one of the first women to co-own a record label and institute a no-segregation playing clause in Mr. Garner’s contracts. She created contracts that licensed original material to record labels instead of them owning it outright, retaining Mr. Garner’s ownership of his masters.

The list goes on, and these are only what we know.

As we have delved into the archive at the University of Pittsburgh (it was Martha’s request that this be developed and donated) and listened to the myriad of recording sessions, many of which she produced, our respect and appreciation of her only grows.

As Bob Donnelly, music attorney, says, “Martha Glaser wasn’t just ahead of her time for a “woman” Artist Manager…she was ahead of her time…way ahead of her time…period! I’ve had the honor to work with many Jazz Music Legends…and their Estates… over the past four decades…and I can’t think of a single Artist during that period who still owns as many of their Master Recordings and Compositional Copyrights as Erroll Garner…and that’s all directly attributable to the vision and determination of Martha Glaser.”

Martha, thank you.

Remembering Martha Glaser