Born in 1951, Jacques Martinez, a self-taught saxophonist, trained himself in listening great saxophonists such as Lester Young and Stan Getz. In 1995, his first formation "Night & Day" revolved around jazz standards, then in 2004 he explored Latin jazz with the formation "Medianoche" and the Cuban singer Maria Antonia Sabater.
Based in Brussels, Jacques launched in 2008 the quintet "Free Roots" around classical to modern jazz, with Åsa Standar (vocals), Antonio Astorino (guitar), Gilles Caligaris (bass) and Pierre Kerff (drums). They said goodbye to Åsa in May 2019, back in Sweden.

Jacques joined the Bossa Flor project in 2013 and at all the concerts organized during the 2013-2016 period. He recorded, with the help of Philippe Gasser, two songs with Pierre Barouh in his own studio, which were included in the group's album "Rencontres en bossa - De Jobim à Barouh" in which he also participated in the recordings in 2017.  
Jacques participates in the project "Brassens dans tous ses états" for the recording of two songs in cool jazz / blues mode with the musicians of the Pataphysique Orchestra.

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