Merl Saunders (February 14, 1934 – October 24, 2008)[1] was an American multi-genre musician who played piano and keyboards, favoring the Hammond B-3 console organ.
Biography
Born in San Mateo, California, United States,[1] Saunders attended Polytechnic High School in San Francisco. In his first band in high school was singer Johnny Mathis.[2] He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1953 to 1957. He worked as musical director of the Billy Williams Revue and served in a similar capacity in Oscar Brown Jr.'s off-Broadway show, Big Time Buck White.
Saunders took the lead in reintroducing Jerry Garcia to his guitar, after Garcia suffered a diabetic coma in the summer of 1986.
In 1990, he released the world music and New Age classic album Blues From the Rainforest, a collaboration with Garcia and Muruga Booker. This led to the release of a video which chronicled Saunders' journey to the Amazon, and the subsequent albums Fiesta Amazonica, It's in the Air, and Save the Planet so We'll Have Someplace to Boogie. One of the songs from Blues From the Rainforest was used as part of the soundtrack for the TV series Baywatch. Saunders continued to perform with the Rainforest Band for the next ten years.
He had his own record label, Sumertone Records[citation needed] (named for his children Susan, Merl Jr., and Tony), and had also recorded on Fantasy Records, Galaxy Records and Relix Records as well as the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia labels. He worked with the Grateful Dead on the theme music for the 1985 TV show The Twilight Zone. As musical director he completed 2 1/2 season of the show . He also worked on the TV series Nash Bridges, and worked on several soundtracks for movies, including Fritz the Cat and Steelyard Blues. He was production co-ordinator for the Grammy Awards for two years, and for the Grammy's Greatest Moments TV special. He also supplied the music for the computer animation video Headcandy: Sidney's Psychedelic Adventure.
In 2002, Saunders suffered from a stroke that paralyzed one side of his body and curtailed his musical career, and he died in San Francisco, California, on the morning of October 24, 2008, after fighting infections as a result of complications related to the stroke.[4] He was survived by his two sons, Tony Saunders (bassist) and Merl Saunders Jr. (a former senior executive director of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences), and his daughter Susan Mora.
In December 2008, TMZ reported the estate of Merl Saunders had filed a lawsuit against the estate of Jerry Garcia, disputing royalties for a 2004 live album. Saunders' estate claimed they were not aware of the album's release and that they had equal rights to the royalties.[5] The case was later settled amicably.
Tributes
On Saturday, February 14, 2009, a tribute to Merl Saunders' life and musical career was held at the Great American Music Hall.[6] It featured actor/director Max Gail and Wavy Gravy as M.C.s, and many past musical collaborators including Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, Tony Saunders, David Grisman, Michael Hinton, Melvin Seals, Michael Warren, Larry Vann, Tonedog, Misa Malone, and Bill Vitt among others.
A re-launch of the Rainforest Band as a tribute to Merl Saunders took place at the 29th Starwood Festival on July 25, 2009, the site of their last performance, featuring his son Tony Saunders, Michael Hinton, Misa Malone and other members of the Rainforest Band and other Saunders’ projects.[7] Also appearing were Sikiru Adepoju on talking drum and Douglas "Val" Serrant on steel drum and djembe.
Discography
Main studio, live and compilation releases
1968 - Soul Grooving - Merl Saunders Trio and Big Band
