Saxophone / Alto Saxophone / French Horn

Terrace Martin

(1978–)

Terrace Martin (b. 1978) — Saxophone, Alto Saxophone. Led Gray Area, Velvet Portraits. Worked with Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat.

Martin plays saxophone and keys and works as a producer. He was a central architect of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly. He dissolves the borders between jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and funk, and sits at the hub of the LA jazz scene — everyone connects through him.

Terrace Martin's albums

The Epic

Kamasi Washington · 2015

The EpicThe EpicKamasi Washington · 2015 (2015) was a three-disc statement. That same year Washington contributed saxophone and string arrangements to Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, creating a new path for listeners to reach jazz through hip-hop.

— Kamasi Washington on 'To Pimp a Butterfly': 'That Record Changed Music', Complex (Joshua Espinoza), 2018

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Kamasi Washington

Terrace Martin's albums

The Epic

Kamasi Washington · 2015

Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) was built on jazz musicians: Robert GlasperRobert Glasperロバート・グラスパー, Terrace MartinTerrace Martinテラス・マーティン, Kamasi WashingtonKamasi Washingtonカマシ・ワシントン, and ThundercatThundercatサンダーキャット. Glasper was supposed to play on one track, but Kendrick kept queuing up songs — he ended up recording nine in a single sitting with no sheet music. The piano solo on "These Walls" was actually his warmup, secretly recorded by Terrace Martin.

— Robert Glasper on Playing Jazz Piano on To Pimp a Butterfly, Slate, 2015

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Robert Glasper

Kamasi Washington

Thundercat

Terrace Martin's albums

Singer-songwriter Yu SakaiSakai Yuさかいゆう became the first Japanese singer-songwriter to appear on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert (April 2025), performing with TBN Trio featuring Nate SmithNate Smithネイト・スミス (drums) and Ben WilliamsBen Williamsベン・ウィリアムズ (bass). It happened because Smith invited the NPR crew to their Shibuya show. Sakai has also recorded with John ScofieldJohn Scofieldジョン・スコフィールド, Terrace MartinTerrace Martinテラス・マーティン, and Nicholas PaytonNicholas Paytonニコラス・ペイトン across previous albums — a rare J-pop artist woven into both the LA and NYC jazz scenes.

— Yu Sakai feat. TBN Trio: Tiny Desk Concert

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Terrace Martin's leader album

Drones

Terrace Martin · 2021

The musicians on Drones Drones DronesTerrace Martin · 2021 (2021) form the core of post-2010s jazz across LA and Chicago. Where Brainfeeder-adjacent production instincts meet collective improvisation — this is one of the defining sites of where jazz moved next.

Terrace Martin's albums

Terrace Martin's videos

January 31, 2016, Boiler Room × MoMA PS1, New York. Terrace MartinTerrace Martinテラス・マーティン featuring Keyon HarroldKeyon Harroldキーヨン・ハロルド on trumpet. The architect of neo-soul/jazz known for his work with Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg.

— Boiler Room × MoMA PS1, 2016

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Keyon Harrold

Videos featuring Terrace Martin

Dinner Party formed in 2020 as a quartet of Terrace MartinTerrace Martinテラス・マーティン, Robert GlasperRobert Glasperロバート・グラスパー, Kamasi WashingtonKamasi Washingtonカマシ・ワシントン, and 9th Wonder. In JAZZIZ, Robert GlasperRobert Glasperロバート・グラスパー described it as "the next step," dissolving the Black Radio concept into a collective form.

— Robert Glasper: Black Radio at 10, JAZZIZ, 2022

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Robert Glasper

Kamasi Washington

Terrace Martin's albums

The Mugician

Keyon Harrold · 2017

Drunk

Thundercat · 2017

Gray Area

Terrace Martin · 2015

Velvet Portraits

Terrace Martin · 2016

Terrace Martin trained as a jazz saxophonist, but in 2015 he helped shape the sound of a landmark hip-hop album, To Pimp a Butterfly. Around the same time he was quietly releasing straight jazz records like Velvet Portraits and Gray Area under his own name, moving between the two worlds with the same hands.

Terrace Martin's albums