Pat Martino understands that every day is precious. The acclaimed jazz guitarist, who performs at 7:30 p.m. May 15, Musikfest Cafe, ArtsQuest Center, SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, lost his memory and ability to play music after a brain aneurysm in the early 1980s.

In addition to his RiverJazz festival perofrmance, Martino presents a talk, 1 p.m. May 15, Laros Auditorium, Doctors' Pavilion, St. Luke's University Health Network, 701 Ostrum St., Fountain Hill. A question-and-answer session follows the talk, which is free and open to the public.

Martino, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master who has been performing since the early 1960s, has been nominated for four Grammy Awards.

After his near-fatal brain aneurysm that left him with amnesia, Martino was unable to play a single note. "I looked at pictures of myself on album covers and thought, 'Well, it looks like me. It must be me,' but I had no memory of it," Martino says in a recent phone interview.

Learning to play the guitar again became an important tool in his recovery. "The music was the finest form of medication for me," he says, resulting in his CD, "The Return" (1987).

Martino was named Guitar Player of the Year in Downbeat's 2004 Reader's Poll. His other recent CDs include "Undeniable: Live at Blues Alley" (2011), No. 1 on jazz charts; "Alone Together" (2012), with Bobby Rose; and "We Are Together Again" (2013), with Gil Goldstein.

Martino continues to be drawn to jazz because it reflects his desire to live in the moment. "Jazz is the ability to change direction at any time," he says. "Instead of moving towards one specific destination, it's the freedom to improvise and to follow one's intuition."

Martino enjoys the play of imagination and creative improvisation at his performances. Yet it is the interaction with the audience, the embrace of the crowd, that really gives him joy. "We are all together in that moment," he says. "For that brief magical moment, that is our reality."